What Julian Sayin’s transfer to Ohio State football means for Ryan Day and Buckeye quarterbacks

COLUMBUS, Ohio — What’s that you say, disgruntled Ohio State football fan? You want a more aggressive Ryan Day?

You got him. The Buckeyes coach’s already audacious quarterback-stacking strategy reached its extreme example Sunday night. Recent Alabama enrollee Julian Sayin — the top quarterback in a 2024 class which began signing barely a month ago — is transferring in.

The No. 4 quarterback in that class — Prentice “Air” Noland — attended Sunday’s big OSU women’s basketball win over Iowa, along with hundreds of other currently enrolled students. A cleveland.com source indicated Noland understands the shift in circumstances which led to Sayin’s commitment. No hard feelings. Such is quarterback recruiting in the modern era.

Ohio State also brought in former Kansas State transfer Will Howard earlier this month as the presumptive front-runner to start on opening day. Former top-100 prospect Devin Brown stuck around to compete for that job as a third-year veteran. Day remains intrigued by the long-term promise of Lincoln Kienholz, entering his second year with the program but his first spring.

Gone are those quaint days when Day longed for four scholarship quarterbacks for ideal depth. He’ll hand five of them to new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Bill O’Brien, who happened to help recruit Sayin to Alabama.

It’s almost as if Day endured the general unease about OSU’s quarterback performance last season and vowed he would never experience that again, at any cost.

Day ultimately takes the blame for whatever shortcoming existed with Kyle McCord, whose transfer to Syracuse made these other additions not only possible but necessary. Day’s general quarterback recruiting strategy has been to bring in a highly ranked prospect in every class. No long-term upside in-state career backups hold scholarships at Ohio State.

The reason? Day does not want to be caught empty handed if he’s wrong about someone, or if the development simply does not work out. Adding Sayin appears to be the most extreme example yet of that — well, take your pick of the best word to use. Philosophy? Neurosis? Paranoia?

No question Sayin is a major talent. Ohio State recruited him out of Carlsbad (Calif.) High School. It tried to pry him away from Alabama post-commitment and only locked down Noland after it could not complete the flip. Nick Saban’s retirement and the reality of the transfer portal provided a clean second opportunity, and Day jumped on it.

Is that fair to Noland, or perhaps even Howard? Again, Noland seems fine with it. Either way, Day has been pushed to a place where those are problems he can worry about a year from now. He can handle the perception of being overly ruthless in roster management if it means beating Michigan and quieting the outrage of those for whom 11-2 and a six-point road loss against the eventual national champion is unforgivable.

Prior to Sunday night, an orderly progression set up in the quarterback room. Howard likely felt he had an edge over Brown or he presumably would have transferred elsewhere. Both could be gone by the end of the coming season. But Kienholz, Noland and incoming 2025 prospect Tavien St. Clair could repopulate the position on a normal timeline.

Sayin’s arrival adds turbulence to an otherwise smooth flight. Common sense tells you the fall quarterback meetings will no longer have five scholarship participants.

Day has never turned to a true freshman as his full-time starter. He owes all five of these quarterbacks a full evaluation this spring. Sayin brings an intriguing mix of arm strength, accuracy and agility — someone who can make the throws Day needs with more ability to freelance outside the pocket.

Howard or Brown remain the more likely opening-day starters due to their experience. As we saw last season, however, doors can open unexpectedly. Sayin’s arrival may not impact the quarterback performance against Akron on Aug. 31. It absolutely impacts how good the No. 2 quarterback must be over the next eight months in order to secure the backup job.

While the timing does not line up, in other ways, this resembles Day’s 2020 signing class combo. Jack Miller III signed on early, when he was one of the top-ranked passers in the nation. C.J. Stroud — like Sayin, a California native — slowly climbed the ranks and joined the class late. They faced off for the starting job in their second string, with McCord jumping in as well, and the process yielded Stroud’s two brilliant seasons.

Sayin and Noland now set up for another big-time competition in spring 2025. Yet the tone for the spring ahead has also shifted. Another major talent has joined the mix, and the most aggressive version of Day we have ever seen will be making the analysis.