Former five-star quarterback that Ohio State pulled away from Alabama doubled down on his big decision

The transfer portal era of college football is a wild time where players are transferring left and right and it has nearly become a free agency period, at least it seems that way. Ohio State was aggressive with who they wanted in the portal and came away with a couple of players thanks to a decision made by Nick Saban.

Saban retired from Alabama and safety Caleb Downs and quarterback Julian Sayin ended up with the Buckeyes. Sayin has only been on campus since the spring but he is firm that he made the right decision.

“I definitely made the right decision coming up here. It came down to a lot of factors, but really I just wanted to be at a school with great tradition and great quarterback history and somewhere I can develop.”

Sayin was an Elite 11 winner and a five-star player at his position in the class of 2023 and he’s competing for the job as a freshman. Sayin is not going to win the starting job and the backup job is what he is realistically going after. The freshman’s ability to process makes him a viable option for the Buckeyes.

Head coach Ryan Day recruited Sayin hard out of high schools and the previous two offensive coordinators for the Buckeyes had a role in Sayin ending up in Columbus.

“When I entered the portal, I knew Coach Day, we had a great relationship throughout the recruiting process,” Sayin explained. “And then Bill O’Brien was actually the offensive coordinator here at the time and I had a strong relationship with him. I came here, and then coach Kelly came here and I had a good relationship with him too being from California and being recruited by UCLA.”

Going to Alabama, expectations were going to be high for Sayin and there going to be just as high in Columbus. The talented quarterback has the perfect plan and is staying level-headed handling things right now.

“I feel like I’m just taking it one day at a time, just trying to take the meeting to the field like Coach Day always tells me. Taking the coaching points that Coach Day and Coach Kelly give me and also learning from older guys like Will and Devin. They’ve played a lot of football, so I’m just taking pointers from them. I’m trying to put it all out on the field.”

Related: Ohio State QB Will Howard is already showing why he is going to be the improvement the Buckeyes needed