As Julian Sayin enters his second season as Ohio State’s starting quarterback, Eleven Warriors sat down with the 2025 Heisman finalist at Big Ten Media Days to learn more about the record-setting Buckeye signal-caller.
We learned how deep Sayin’s love of football truly is, as the quarterback who broke Ohio State’s single-season completion percentage last season said he couldn’t envision the sport not being a part of his life. That said, we also spoke with Sayin about the sport that’s become his favorite pastime away from football – golf – and learned about his go-to meals. As we did in our one-on-one with Jeremiah Smith at Big Ten Media Days, we also asked Sayin some fun questions about his Ohio State teammates, including who he’d most and least want to be stranded on an island with and who the Buckeyes’ funniest players are.
Sayin also spoke about the NFL quarterbacks who have inspired him since he was a child and reflected on his first two years as a Buckeye, including his growth since his freshman year and some of the most memorable moments he’s experienced in Columbus.
Golf helps Sayin keep his competitive edge
When Sayin and the Buckeyes have a day off from football, you’ll often find Ohio State’s quarterback playing another sport: Golf.
“This summer I'm huge into golf. I've been playing golf a bunch,” Sayin said. “It's really fun. It's such a good sport because it's a sport that's not strenuous on your body, so as an athlete, you can go play it without any risk. And then it's also super competitive, so your mental game is working the entire time. You get your competitive juices flowing. It's awesome.”
While hitting a golf ball isn’t quite the same as throwing a pass downfield while evading a pass rush, he believes golfing does help him train himself to keep his cool after making a mistake.
“I'm not going to say it makes me a better quarterback, but there's elements to it, for sure,” Sayin said. “When you hit a bad shot, you really have to reset your mind. It's like throwing an interception. You've got to go back out there and reset your mind after having a bad pass.”
Sayin, who has a 13 handicap, says his best score for an 18-hole round is an 81. He plays most of his golf at the Ohio State Golf Club, while his favorite courses he’s played also include Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin (the home of the PGA TOUR’s Memorial Tournament) and Torrey Pines Golf Club – a two-time host of the U.S. Open – in San Diego, just a short drive away from his hometown of Carlsbad, California.
“I play OSU a lot. I love Muirfield, Muirfield is great. Torrey Pines, where I'm from, is awesome. So I'd say those two, and then I play OSU,” Sayin said when asked about his favorite golf courses. “I like Scarlet a lot.”
Football is life for Sayin
While Sayin enjoys golfing as well as surfing when he’s back home in California, he says he never seriously considered playing a sport other than football.
“I played a little bit of basketball as a middle school kid, lacrosse, but I kind of stopped playing around middle school and focused on football,” Sayin said. “I just loved it.”
As such, Sayin said he couldn’t envision himself doing anything else when asked what he would be doing if he wasn’t a football player.
“If I wasn’t a football player, it's hard to think that my life wouldn't involve football just because I love the game so much,” Sayin said. “I think I would still be around it. I would still be involved. Maybe doing something in the water in California or something like that, but I would probably still be involved in football.”
Asked what Buckeye fans should know about him that they might not already know, Sayin said he believes the public image he already has as Ohio State’s quarterback accurately represents who he is as a person.
“I feel like I'm kind of perceived who I am, I think,” Sayin said. “Most people know kind of what I am and most about me.”
Asked about his life goals outside of football, Sayin said his biggest goal is simply to be a good family man.
“Just be a good son, be a good brother, be a good husband in the future,” Sayin said.
“It's hard to think that my life wouldn't involve football just because I love the game so much.”– Julian Sayin on what he’d do if he wasn’t a football player
Drawing inspiration from NFL QBs and Buckeye greats
Asked who he’s been most excited to meet through his first two years as a Buckeye, Sayin listed off former Ohio State quarterbacks C.J. Stroud, Justin Fields and J.T. Barrett as well as former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel and legendary Buckeye linebacker Ryan Shazier.
Asked who he most wants to meet, Sayin’s hoping for a chance to meet the quarterback whom new Ohio State offensive coordinator Arthur Smith coached last year with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I think meeting Aaron Rodgers would be cool,” Sayin said. “He was one of my favorite quarterbacks growing up.”
Growing up, Sayin enjoyed watching all of the NFL’s top quarterbacks and tried to learn from watching all of them as he started his own quarterbacking career.
“The big four for me growing up, like guys that I watched and they were at the top of their game, was Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron and Drew Brees,” Sayin said. “Those four were like the biggest in the game when I was a kid, so it was awesome to watch.”
Sayin recently had the opportunity to spend time with Peyton and his brother Eli Manning as he was a counselor at the Manning Passing Academy alongside many of the nation’s other top college quarterbacks.
“It was really cool, just to be around a bunch of other college quarterbacks and then to be around the Manning family, learn from Peyton and Eli, it was awesome,” Sayin said of his experience at the June camp in Louisiana.
Among current NFL quarterbacks, Sayin said the one he watches the most is Joe Burrow, who Sayin has had the chance to meet when Burrow – who played at Ohio State for three years before transferring to LSU – made a visit to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
“He's a really talented thrower of the football, somebody who is extremely smart and a very good processor,” Sayin said of why he looks up to Burrow.
Sayin’s diet includes “dog bowl,” consistent pregame meal
While Sayin said he isn’t very superstitious, he and his fellow Ohio State quarterbacks have one pregame ritual that they keep consistent throughout the season.
“In the quarterback room, we do eat the same meal every morning. Whatever we had on Week 1, we're having throughout the rest of the season,” Sayin said. “But I'm not superstitious, just that one. We all kind of buy it and we do the same thing.”
Before last year’s games, Sayin said the pregame meal of choice for the quarterbacks consisted of eggs, potatoes, a biscuit and some fruit. But as QB1, it’s up to him to decide what the signal-caller’s pregame meal will be this season.
“Maybe I'll switch it up this year,” Sayin said. “I don't know. I've got a couple weeks to decide, so we'll see.”
Outside of gameday, Sayin says his favorite meal resembles something a pet might eat.
“Honestly, one of my favorite meals is ground beef and rice and vegetables. It's honestly my go-to,” Sayin said. “I call it the dog bowl – it’s like what you feed your dog is what people say. But it tastes really good to me. It's healthy, it's protein, so I enjoy it.”
Sayin says he’s not much of a cook, so he keeps his meals simple.
“No, I'm not the biggest chef. But I enjoy eating for sure,” Sayin said.
Hinzman, Inniss, Mathews draw teammate superlatives
As we did with Jeremiah Smith, we asked Julian Sayin which teammates he’d most and least want to be stranded on a desert island with, as well as who he thinks the funniest players on the team are.
While Smith said fifth-year senior center Carson Hinzman was the player he’d least want to be stranded with, Sayin identified his snapper as the player he’d most want by his side.
“I'd probably go with one of the O-linemen. Carson's pretty handy; QB-center, that's a good connection. And he does renovations on his house and things like that, so he knows what he's doing,” Sayin said.
As for the player he’d least want to be stranded with, Sayin named another fifth-year senior, tight end Bennett Christian – though he said Christian wasn’t the only player who came to mind.
“There's a lot I wouldn't want to be stranded with, honestly,” Sayin said with a laugh. “I love Bennett. I'll say Bennett Christian. Bennett's a good fisherman, so I don't know. There's a lot I wouldn't want, honestly.”
While Smith said defensive tackle James Smith is the funniest player on the team “without a doubt,” Sayin named wide receiver Brandon Inniss and cornerback Jermaine Mathews Jr. as the team’s funniest players – as well as its top two trash talkers.
“I mean, there's a lot of funny guys,” Sayin said. “I think Brandon's funny. I think Jermaine's funny.”
Reflecting on his first two years as a Buckeye
When Sayin arrived at Ohio State as a freshman two years ago following a brief enrollment at Alabama, he was immediately struck by how much talent he had around him as he joined a team that would go on to win the national championship that season.
“My freshman year spring was fun. It was a very talented group and it was very competitive,” Sayin said. “I remember guys like JT (Tuimoloau), Jack Sawyer, you had Denzel Burke out there, you had Caleb (Downs) out there, Jeremiah (Smith) was a freshman at the time, Emeka (Egbuka) was there. It was a fun group and so I think you looked around and kind of saw that talent and was like, ‘Wow.’”
Sayin also learned quickly about how intensely Ryan Day coaches his quarterbacks.
“I think in the first few practices, you kind of find out he's very intense as a coach and he's hard on the quarterbacks, but we wouldn't want it any other way,” Sayin said. “He brings the best out of us and is an elite quarterback coach.”
Thinking back on where he was when he started his Ohio State career and what he is as a player now, Sayin believes he’s grown substantially from both a physical and mental standpoint.
“Obviously growing physically with Coach Mick and then just really learning the ins and outs of the game and just keep improving my football IQ,” Sayin said. “I think Ohio State does such a good job of having smart players because they teach them the right way and they develop their football minds. So I think I've developed a lot in that area and I'm still chasing growth there.”
Asked about his favorite moments through his first two years as a Buckeye, leading Ohio State to a win over Michigan last season and winning the national championship as a freshman immediately jumped to mind.
“I think there's been some great moments. I think beating the team up north last year was really special. Winning the national championship was obviously extremely special,” Sayin said. “But I think just you remember the wins and remember the good times that you were hanging with your teammates.”
While Sayin already had a memorable first season as Ohio State’s starting quarterback, he’ll be looking to accomplish even more this year, particularly in terms of postseason success after the Buckeyes ended last season with losses to Indiana and Miami. Ohio State coach Ryan Day is confident that a big second year as a starter is ahead for his third-year quarterback.
“Julian Sayin, in now year three with us, year two as a starter, has a different look in his eye,” Day said at Big Ten Media Days. “He had great success last year. He won his first start ever, home against Texas in a big top-five matchup. Won our rivalry game in the sideways snow. But then came up short at the end of the year. We all did. But when you look in his eye now, you see a different person. You see a different body. He's worked hard. He's gotten stronger. He's found his voice even more and he's got a great look in his eye. I think he's poised for a great season.”
