Could Ohio State football lose QB if Bill O’Brien leaves?

We are still awaiting word on whether or not the Ohio State football team will lose Bill O’Brien as their offensive coordinator. O’Brien is a finalist for the Boston College head coaching job. O’Brien was just hired as the OC for the Buckeyes a couple of weeks ago and they might lose him before he even takes the field.

Losing O’Brien is one thing. He has to do what’s best for him and his family. But O’Brien was a big reason that the Buckeyes got Julian Sayin, a five-star quarterback, to transfer from Alabama. He was involved in Sayin’s recruitment very early on. Sayin left Alabama after briefly enrolling once Saban retired to follow O’Brien.

Could the Ohio State football team lose Julian Sayin if Bill O’Brien bolts?

Would Sayin decide to still stay in Columbus if O’Brien leaves? He has to stay at least a year now since he’s already transferred once. But once 2025 rolls around, could he just leave without even battling for the starting job? I think it’s something that is a real possibility if everyone around the Ohio State football program doesn’t handle things right.

Ryan Day said yesterday that he’s committed to giving up play-calling. Who he hires to take over that role should O’Brien leave will be critical in keeping Sayin. The hire needs to be someone that Sayin feels can help develop him and everyone else in the quarterback room to be an elite NFL quarterback. That won’t be easy this late in the cycle.

Ohio State does have a whole year to make the case to Sayin that Columbus is still the best place for him. If the Buckeyes win a lot of games and throw the ball well next season, that should be enough to convince him to stay. You never know though. The transfer portal is the Wild West these days so anything can happen.

We should know about O’Brien’s status by the end of the weekend. Then we’ll know for sure about Sayin. It’d be nice to be able to keep both of them.