The Ohio State Buckeyes crowned themselves champions in the latest NCAAF season, overcoming a tough opponent in the Fighting Irish. Ryan Day’s team heavily relied on the talent of Will Howard, who, after securing the championship, shared with the press what it meant to be part of this program over the past months.
“It’s crazy to look back at all the things that have happened in my career, going from really playing as a freshman at Kansas State, not really knowing what I’m doing out there, and going into my junior year kind of lost, not really thinking I’d be playing, and then ended up winning a Big 12 Championship,” Howard said.
In his comments, the talented quarterback emphasized how crucial the trust shown by his coach, Ryan Day, was. From the very beginning, Day saw potential in Howard and believed he could take the program as far as possible in College Football.
“All that, I just had to trust in the Lord, man, and trust that He had a plan for me and that all the adversity that we were going through, all the tough times that I went through. … I’m just so thankful that I got the chance to come here and to be a Buckeye and that Coach Day believed in me and that these guys believed in me. I’m blessed, and I’m just so unbelievably thankful that I got a chance to be a Buckeye, even if it was for just one year.“
Finally, Howard expressed his gratitude for the environment that surrounded him this past year: “I’m just so thankful that I have a group of guys in this locker room and a group of coaches and my family that I can lean on and they can get me through all those tough times,” Howard said. “Here we are, man. It’s kind of surreal to feel like personally and as a team, all the things that we’ve been through this year, to come out on top feels pretty damned good.”
The difficult decision to replace Howard
With the primary goal of replicating last season’s success and the certainty of Will Howard’s departure after declaring for the upcoming NFL draft, Ryan Day faces a tough decision in naming his replacement for next season.
In recent statements to 97.1 The Fan, the Buckeyes’ head coach addressed this situation and how his players will need to earn their spot on the first team: “These guys are going to compete their tail off.”
“And we have some good quarterbacks in the system, and, you know, I shared with all of them that you know now, this was the week leading up to the national championship game that you know you had an opportunity to watch. And so you got to really utilize that, because that’s exactly what we’re looking for in a leader here at quarterback.
“So when you guys come back in about two weeks, you gotta look different, you gotta walk different, you gotta act different, because now you’re fighting to become the starting quarterback at Ohio State. We have some really talented guys in that room, and, you know, looking forward to see what the competition brings,” the Buckeyes‘ HC finally concluded.