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The top 10 quotes from postgame scene after Ohio State won national championship

Spencer-Holbrookby:Spencer Holbrook•about 9 hours•

SpencerHolbrook

Emeka Egbuka
Emeka Egbuka (© Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images)

ATLANTA — Ohio State is the national champion of college football. The party is still ongoing ahead of the celebration inside the Horseshoe on Sunday.

And the postgame coverage is still nowhere near complete. With that in mind, Lettermen Row is putting together a list of 10 quotes, some funny, some sentimental, some serious and some just outrageous from the postgame celebrations on the field and inside the Mercedes-Benz Stadium locker room after a national title win.

Let’s break down the 10 best quotes Lettermen Row — or other outlets — heard as the confetti was settling Monday night.

10. Will Howard on what it means to win a national title for Buckeyes

Rex Kern, a 10th-round pick, was what the program needed under Woody Hayes in 1968 and won a national title. Flash forward to 2002, when Craig Krenzel, a fifth-round pick, helped the Buckeyes capture a title. Of course, everyone remembers Cardale Jones for his immaculate run through the four-team CFP. He became a fourth-round draft choice after winning his title in 2014.

Welcome to the club, Will Howard.

“It’s humbling,” Howard said Tuesday morning after the Monday night game and celebration. “Coming to Ohio State, obviously the expectation and the goal is in the end to win a National Championship. The fact that we’re sitting here today as national champions, it’s surreal, man. You’ve got to really just take it in and thank God for the opportunity to be here and for the opportunity to be on this stage with these guys that I love. We’re going to be brothers for the rest of our lives because of this. We are bonded for life.

“It’s more than blood now, man. We’ve got rings to show for it, and we’re going to be able to get together and tell this story of this team for years to come. I’m just so blessed that I was able to come here and be a part of something like this.”

9. Emeka Egbuka shares what he wants his legacy to be

Emeka Egbuka broke the Ohio State all-time receptions record during the national title game, passing K.J. Hill (2016-2019). Hill had 201. Egbuka ended his career with 205.

But he knows that record will be broken eventually, maybe even by Jeremiah Smith. So Lettermen Row wanted to know what his legacy is for the Buckeyes program.

“I think my legacy here and what I want Buckeye fans and the whole state of Ohio to remember me for is how I glorify Jesus on the field,” Egbuka said. “That was really my only goal. I tried to do that the best way I could. I came up short many, many times in my career. That can mean more to me than any record could.”

8. Buckeyes early-enrollee OL wants to meet LeBron

Lakers star and one of the best basketball players of all time LeBron James was in a suite for the game, watching his favorite college football team win a national title.

Some of the players hoped James would come down to the field and join the celebration after the game.

Early-enrollee offensive lineman Jayvon McFadden, a four-star recruit who signed with the program in December and will be on the team next season, asked one of his fellow early-enrollees: “Where LeBron at?”

He left, Jayvon. Maybe you’ll get to meet him eventually, but it wasn’t going to be after this title game win.

7. Ryan Day loves Ohio State

“It’s an honor to be the head coach at Ohio State,” he said Tuesday morning. “I’d probably say that this job is not for everybody, and every year I’ve learned more about myself than I thought going into the season. A big part of it is these players, and I shared that with the guys this season.

“I felt like we were knocking on the door several times leading up to this game. You think about the ’19 team, you think about the ’20 team. Every year I felt like we were close, but we just couldn’t get through. This team was different. This team was special. The message was to leave no doubt. Don’t leave it to one play, don’t leave it to one call and don’t leave it in the hands of somebody else. Don’t do that.

“I felt like the throw-and-catch there to Jeremiah at the end was like, okay, we’re leaving no doubt with this thing.

“To answer your question about the other part of it, I don’t know. I just know that Ohio State is a special place. It’s an honor to be here, an honor to be around some of those names that you just said, because when you hear some of those names like that, they’re some of the best coaches in the history of the game.

“But the only way you do that is with great players and great people, and obviously this is a great place.”

6. Was there any doubt who the ball was going to on third and 11? From College Sports on Sirius XM

College Sports on Sirius XM asked this to Ryan Day and Jeremiah Smith after the game…

Ryan Day: “No.”

Jeremiah Smith: “No.”

Smith: “I love coach Day to death. I’d do anything for him. Just happy to be on his team and being a Buckeye.”

Senior receiver Emeka Egbuka added in the postgame locker room scene: “”The only thing that’s freshman about Jeremiah is his age.”

In his postgame press conference, Day was asked about why the Buckeyes decided to call that deep shot to Smith with the game on the line…

“We felt like we had an advantage with Jeremiah on that shot, and we talked about it all week. We really hadn’t thrown one all game, and it was like, you know what, game on the line, let’s just go. Let’s go aggressive.

“I just thought to myself, only one National Championship, you only get one opportunity a year to do this, let’s just lay it on the line and put it out there and be aggressive. And that’s what we did.

“I talked to the defensive guys and I talked to the offensive guys that we were going to continue to be aggressive throughout the game. I told the team that leading up to the game. And I had to make sure I followed through that.”

Boy, did they. The deep ball now known as “third and Jeremiah” will live in Ohio State lore.

5. Ryan Day reflects on the change from regular season loss to postseason dominance

“I wouldn’t say that it was a reset. It wasn’t like at the end of the year we were broken. It wasn’t that way. We had an awful day. I don’t know how else to describe it. We had an awful day, and we just said we could never do that again.

“And I think it’s the job of the head coach to take the responsibility when something goes bad like that, but then on days like this, make sure that everyone understands it’s the warriors and guys on the field that deserve all the credit, not the coach. The coach gets too much attention sometimes. I want to make sure these guys are the ones getting the attention.”

4. Carson Hinzman gives hilarious quote to Lettermen Row while puffing cigar

Hinzman replaced an injured Seth McLaughlin in November after starting 12 games as an undersized center in 2023. Now he’s the national title-winning center who replaced the Rimington Trophy-winning center. What a remarkable story for Hinzman, who will be one of the unquestioned leaders of the offensive line next year.

The Wisconsin native who grew up on a dairy farm reflected on his journey.

“The resilience that God has bestowed in me is unquestionable. I think coming from my family and where I’ve been from, and what these guys have done for me, Coach Mick and what the coaches have done, I think I’ve been more than ready to take over the lead. I’m not Seth. I’m nowhere near trying to fill his shoes, but I’m trying to be me and do everything I can to try getting better every day. …

“Wisconsin cream rises to the top, and that’s what happened here.”

3. Josh Fryar, Donovan Jackson tell Kings of the North their postgame plans

The best quote from the entire postgame celebration came from friends of Lettermen Row, Kings of the North. While Bill Landis was live on the field after the game, he asked Josh Fryar and Donovan Jackson about their postgame plans.

The responses from both were epic.

Fryar: “I’m getting hammered.”

Jackson: “I will be right there with him getting hammered. I am 22 years old, and I can legally do it.”

2. Jack Sawyer answers what it means to know Ryan Day is a national title-winning coach

Lettermen Row then asked the senior leader, star defensive end, Central Ohio native and avid Ryan Day defender what he thinks knowing Day is a national champion:

“Damn right he is. He’s the best coach in college football. And he’s going to win a couple more of these things here soon.”

1. Ryan Day speaks about his national title-winning roster

“I think this playoff system allowed our team to grow and learn and build. You can say whatever you want about people talked a lot about how much money guys were making in NIL and different things like that. That was just because NIL was available. The majority of our team came back. These guys have been here for a long time.

“Certainly Will was a huge addition, Caleb was a huge addition, don’t get me wrong. But when you hear that number, that doesn’t mean a whole lot other than the fact that the market value for our guys in Columbus at Ohio State is pretty high. That’s what it means. When that got tagged on us early, there was a lot of pressure put on our players.

“But that’s nothing new at Ohio State. I think the difference is that we finished the season the right way, and we grew. We built, and we responded to tough times. Man, isn’t that what life is all about.

“These guys learned a bunch of life lessons, but they’re going to go down in Ohio State history as one of the greatest teams to ever play at Ohio State. After all the things that have been said throughout the year, these guys are going to be cemented as one of the best stories in Ohio State history and one of the best football teams ever. Only nine teams have ever done it, and three in over 50 years. These guys right here. There was a point where not a lot of people had that vision, but these guys did, and they saw it through.

“Ohio State may not be for everybody, but it’s for these guys, and I’m really proud of them.”

Bonus 1: Ryan Day embraces family

Credit 10TV’s Adam King and his videographer for capturing this moment that absolutely cannot be left off the list.

Ryan’s wife Nina: “Oh my God, you did it!”

Ryan Day, hugging Nina and his family: “We did it. We did it. We did it.”

Day’s son, RJ: “We’re so proud of you, dad.”

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