Joe Burrow on decision to leave Ohio State: 'Writing was on the wall'

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow took the long road to win a national championship and become a number one overall pick. The pivotal point in the young quarterback’s life was when he decided to transfer from Ohio State to LSU in the summer of 2018. And during a recent sitdown interview, Burrow explained when everything changed for him and when he could see the writing on the wall with the Buckeyes.

“So I graduated in three years, and the transfer portal wasn’t a thing when I was transferring,” said Burrow. “You (had to sit out) unless you graduated. So, I graduated. But you couldn’t just hop in the portal like you can these days. I decided to transfer, and the writing was on the wall. Dwayne (Haskins). “

Burrow joined Ohio State in 2015 after the Buckeyes won the national championship the year before. He already had a tough hill to climb with quarterbacks Braxton Miller, J.T Barrett, and Cardale Jones ahead of him. However, the following offseason, Burrow got knocked further down the depth chart after Dwayne Haskins joined the team. Shortly after that is when Burrow knew his time at Ohio State was done.

“I broke my hand before my last season in Ohio State, and kind of set me back. And then J.T (Barrett) got hurt against Michigan Dwayne went in, played awesome, ended up coming back and winning the game. And so I kind of knew, I had saw the writing on the wall that he was going to be the guy.”

How Burrow landed at LSU

So how did a kid from Ohio find his way to the bayous in Louisiana? Well, according to Burrow, a former position coach with the Buckeyes set up a meeting between him and former Tigers head coach Ed Orgeron. after that, Orgeron closed the deal bringing him to LSU and the rest is history.

“Bill Bush was the safeties coach at LSU and he was at Ohio State my first years. He told coach O about me and then I went on a visit to LSU. And I don’t know if you guys have ever talked to coach O, but he’s pretty convincing. And that was kind of it for me.”

Despite the road being tough, Burrow has enjoyed a gratuitous amount of success at the collegiate level. He helped the Tigers to their first College Football Playoff appearance after going undefeated in the regular season and knocking off the defending champs, the Alabama Crimson Tide. From there, Burrow went on to help the Tigers capture their first national championship since 2007, win the Heisman, and become the number one overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft. Burrow might have seen the writing on the wall at Ohio State, but thanks to that, he was able to write his own storybook ending to his college career. now he’s looking to do the same thing in the NFL after leading the Bengals to their first Super Bowl appearance since the late 1980s