Fresh off a national championship, Ohio State must name a new quarterback for its title defense in 2025.
This fall, third-year Lincoln Kienholz, second-year Julian Sayin or first-year Tavien St. Clair will replace Will Howard as QB1. When those quarterbacks enter spring practice in 10 days, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said he wants to see two qualities more than others: toughness and leadership.
"They're young. They're gonna have to compete," Day said of his team's quarterbacks. "We need a quarterback to be tough. We need him to be a leader."
Those qualities, among others, helped Howard lead Ohio State to its ninth national title this past season. Day said Kienholz, Sayin and St. Clair benefited from their time around Howard during the Buckeyes' College Football Playoff run because the veteran quarterback showed what it takes to perform at a championship level in December and January.
"The standard of what the leadership should look like around here, I mean, you start listing guys who have been here recently and down the history of Ohio State football, you have some of the best names who have ever played the game," Day said. "The biggest thing they have to do is lead and be tough."
Billy Fessler, whom Ohio State promoted from offensive analyst to quarterbacks coach this offseason, said each of the Buckeyes' signal-callers have responded to Day's call for action in recent weeks.
"Let's start with Lincoln," Fessler said. "Lincoln has definitely stepped up from a leadership perspective. You can see the way he attacks workouts. This winter is so big for all three of them to set the standard and understand the intangibles of playing quarterback is all about. It's so much more than picking up a football and throwing it. ... I've seen that growth from Lincoln. That's really exciting.
"As for Julian, last year, going into the year, he was competing (to be Howard's backup) and ended up not winning the job. He could have turned it down, been bummed out and not attacked it the right way, but I saw him continue to grow throughout the year. I saw him learn from Will. He can get to a point this year where now he can step up and be more of a vocal leader. That's something I've seen growth in him as well. He's put on some weight. He looks good. He's attacked his time in the winter. That's been awesome.
"And then Tavien comes in, and Tavien should still be in high school. Instead, he's in my office all the time learning the offense. When he's not with me, he's with Coach Mick (Marotti), and when he's not with Coach Mick he's over there doing academics in SASSO. His days are pretty jam-packed. That's definitely new for him. But his commitment to wanting to be great and wanting to be at a level where he can go out and compete in the spring has been really impressive.
"I'm excited for all three of them," Fessler concluded.
“Long way to go on it. Don't have any evaluation to go with now. But it's gonna be a big spring for those guys.”– Ryan Day on Ohio State's Quarterback Battle
Like past Ohio State quarterback battles, Day plans to roll reps for all three competitors. He said Friday that the Buckeyes will have three groups of running backs, wide receivers, tight ends and offensive linemen for Kienholz, Sayin and St. Clair to lead. That process ensures each quarterback receives an "equal amount of reps" on a level playing field. It also allows the trio to focus on their individual development.
"The No. 1 goal of spring is to get individual players better," Day explained. "We can get scheme in and all that, but fundamentally, technically, we've got to get better as football players. Then, once we get into the summer, we start putting the scheme together and we start coming with the chemistry of the team."
With that in mind, Day hopes competition creates the most improvement for all three quarterbacks.
"Long way to go on it," Day said. "Don't have any evaluation to go with now. But it's gonna be a big spring for those guys."
