Quinn Ewers reveals biggest factor in choosing Ohio State over Texas out of high school

The path to playing college football began in an unusual sense for Quinn Ewers. A longtime Texas commit out of Southlake (TX), Ewers undid his pledge to the Longhorns and shortly thereafter, enrolled early with the Ohio State Buckeyes. Head coach Ryan Day managed to get the former Five-Star Plus+ product on campus a year early too as the quarterback skipped his high school senior season.

Ewers eventually ended up with the in-state program but did spend one season at Ohio State. On Monday, he admitted the decision was due to NIL opportunities presented to him and his family.

Get your team’s official College Football Playoff watch from AXIA by CLICKING HERE: “Watches that tell so much more than time”

At the time, high school players from Texas could not profit from their NIL so in order to do so, Ewers had to enroll earlier than expected.

“One of the main things was that the Texas legislature wasn’t going to allow #txhsfb players to be paid,” Ewers said via On3’s Inside Texas. “Me and my family had a pretty big opportunity in front of us, we felt like it was a good decision for me to forego my senior year and enroll early at Ohio State. I had the opportunity to have some good money in our pockets as a family.”

Even if earning some cash for himself and the family was a priority, Ewers says more did so into the decision. Ohio State was off to a great start under Day, making two consecutive College Football Playoffs. The Buckeyes were certainly a winning program while Texas went a combined 15-8 with two Alamo Bowl wins in that same stretch under Tom Herman.

His stop in Columbus did wind up being a short one, though. Ewers made just one appearance in an Ohio State uniform, being inserted in mop-up duty during a 2021 blowout against Michigan State. A few snaps were taken, all of which resulted in handoffs.

Ewers wound up entering the NCAA transfer portal shortly after Steve Sarkisian was hired. Just a few weeks later, he committed to Texas.

“Learned a lot when I was there under Coach Day and CJ Stroud,” Ewers said. “Super thankful for that time that I got to spend there. Like I said, I learned a whole lot. So I don’t regret any decision I’ve made on going or anything like that, but the main reason I went was I felt like I had a great relationship with the coaching staff, and they were winning a lot of games I wanted to go be part of something like that.

“The reason I came back to Texas was to be closer to the resources that I have and the relationships that I’ve built over time just being from Texas.”

Now, the two worlds for Ewers will collide. He will start for Texas on Friday night against Ohio State in the CFP semifinals as a spot in the national championship is on the line. A huge moment for both programs where everything for Texas’ No. 3 comes full circle.