Ryan Day reveals why Quinn Ewers decided to leave Ohio State
Just one year after reclassifying from the 2022 class to the 2021 class, Quinn Ewers entered the transfer portal, ending his Ohio State career after one short season.
Ewers, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound freshman, logged just a few snaps this season. He was a five-star recruit, the No. 1 recruit in the 2021 consensus rankings and No. 2 in the 2021 On3 rankings, trailing only Oklahoma’s Caleb Williams.
Following a preseason quarterback competition, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day named redshirt freshman C.J. Stroud the starting quarterback in August, moving Ewers to the bench. Day recently addressed Ewers’ decision to enter the portal, stating that it was “a very unique situation.”
“We wish him nothing but the best of luck moving forward. But boy, there’s just a lot that’s going on right now in college football with a lot of this stuff, whether it’s early enrollees or the transfer portal and those types of things,” Day said of Ewers. “We’re just going to do the best we can to try and adapt as time moves on, but we certainly wish him nothing but the best of luck.”
Ewers is set to visit Texas this weekend, according to On3’s Gerry Hamilton, and he’s set to announce his decision soon after.
“You try to do the best you can on the front end of explaining exactly what is going to happen and then do the best you can of communicating and following through with it,” Day said, when asked how to address a player frustrated with playing time. “Things change. And you have to adapt.”
Per On3’s Gerry Hamilton, Ewers recently eliminated TCU from his list, and sources believe he could decide his next destination by Monday. The former No. 1 overall player in the 2021 class according to the On3 Consensus Rankings was spotted in Lubbock on Sunday.
Ewers is intimately familiar with the Texas program, as he was once committed to the Longhorns. The high-level prospect has NFL aspirations, so interest in playing under an offensive guru in Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian is unsurprising.
Per Justin Wells of Inside Texas, upon hearing the news Ewers was in the transfer portal, Sarkisian immediately went to Southlake Carroll (Texas) High School to visit with Ewers and his parents. The meeting lasted at least three hours.
According to Hamilton, name, image and likeness opportunities are likely not a factor driving Ewers’ decision; he has reportedly already made in the in excess of $1 million from previous partnerships. Ewers just wants to see the field as soon as possible, making a Texas team that dealt with uncertainty at the quarterback position this season a prime destination.