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10 Things We Learned From Ohio State Quarterback Will Howard · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning for Thursday, February First, I'm your host,
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  tom Or the Actoring game in two hundred and twelve days, the gimmagainst Michigan
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  in three hundred and three days. On yesterday's show, we talked to Kevin
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  Noon about the five interviews with the five transfers who are already at Ohio State,
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  not including for freshman Juliet saying, get it, just sort of a
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  little bit of a cliff notes version on those interviews, some first thoughts on
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  those new guys. Today, we're going to start the process of letting you
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  hear directly from some of those new guys, and we're going to start We're
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  else We're going to start with the quarterback, right, Will Howard transfer for
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  Kansas State. He had a lot of interesting things to say. He's coming
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  into sort of a unique situation. Five quarterbacks in that room that is kind
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  of unusual for modern day college football. So let's start with the obvious first
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  question, why Ohio State they will? Man, There was a lot of
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  reasons why, but you know, when I got to the end, it
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  was more why not. You know, I just felt like this was an
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  opportune unity I couldn't pass up on and uh, you know, I really
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  thought I had a really good relationship with Coach Day. I thought he was
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  a really good guy and obviously didn't know about the Coach O'Brien news, but
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  that fires me up to There was just so many different things that went into
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  this decision. It was a long, you know, weird journey in the
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  portal, but I couldn't be happier, more blessed to be. He seems
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  like just very relatable, someone that I can get along with, really well,
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  very smart. I mean, he's been around for how long doing this
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  and and has done some really really good things. It's some really big time
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  places. You know, just the experience that he brings and that I'll be
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  able to, uh you know, feed off of and and kind of just
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  really just learn from him and kind of bounce ideas off of him, because
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  you know, he's really personable. He's a he's a player's coach. He
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  wants to do what we want to do and cater to our strengths, and
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  he wants to run our offense. And that's that's big time. Some guys
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  spent a lot of time in the transfer portals. Some guys transfer. After
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  just a day or two. Will Howard was in there for a little bit
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  of a while, a little bit of a good time, good stretch of
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  time where he finally decided on Ohio State. So what was the process like
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  of going through the portal and what took so long? You know, at
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  times it felt rushed and at times it felt like, you know, I
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  was pressing like people were, you know, we need a commitment, we
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  need this, we need that. But I was I just throughout the whole
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  process, I just prayed and trusted God and knew that, you know,
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  his plan for me would would be greater, and that I would end up
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  where I was meant to be. And I mean that paid off, you
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  know, tenfold. I feel like I landed in the best possible place for
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  myself and and you know, I just I couldn't be more thankful and blessed
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  to be here. How long was Will Howard in the portal before he heard
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  from Ohio State? And then sort of where did it go from there?
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  I don't remember exactly when it when it happened, when it went down,
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  but you know, I knew they wanted wait until after the Cotton Bowl to
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  do anything. So you know I was patient, and I knew that,
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  you know that going out to Ohio State and playing quarterback here would be a
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  huge honor and an opportunity that would be hard to pass up. And you
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  know, there was it was a long process, but you know, I'm
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  glad I ended up here. While you are in the transfer portal, there
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  are no guarantees about anything. There are plenty of guys who go in and
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  never find the landing spot, and there's not a guarantee that you would be
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  allowed to go back to the place that you left. So was it tempting
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  for Will Howard to not be patient and maybe just take the bird in the
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  hand rather than waiting and taking a chance on maybe something didn't work out with
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  Ohios. There was a lot of different options for me on the table,
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  and I thought they were all really good options. You know, I didn't
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  think any of them were as good as this one. And this is the
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  one that I kind of had, you know, circled in the back of
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  my mind. And you know, at it was, it was really down
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  to the last minute. I mean, in the last week before I committed
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  here, I got a Senior Bowl invite. You know, that was probably
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  the thing that I was close closest to doing was going to the draft.
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  You know, I was projected a third to sixth rounds, So that's what
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  I was hearing. I you know, you can never really trust anything that
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  you hear, but that was consensus what I was hearing. And I just
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  felt like I had the opportunity and I felt like my talent level didn't really
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  match where my stock was, and I felt like I couldn't pass up an
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  opportunity to try and bump that up and go somewhere to compete for a national
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  championship. Well, you heard him say that he watched the Cotton Bowl and
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  was waiting for the Cotton Bowl to be over before he officially made a decision
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  on Ohio State. So what was it like watching that Cotton Bowl game thinking
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  about how he might fit in this offense? I was really just watching it
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  just because, I mean, we played Missouri lost to him this past year
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  on a heartbreaking field goal from like sixty two yards, So like I was
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  just watching the game as more of just a fan. But yeah, I
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  mean the things that coach Day does in his offense and that coach O'Brien does,
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  I feel like really fit my my type of build, my type of
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  player. You know where I was coming from at k State, it was
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  a very run heavy offense, especially quarterback run heavy, which I was very
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  happy to do and didn't mind doing it all. I'm excited here to where
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  I feel like it's more of a you know, where I can be that
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  pocket passer and also use my legs when I need to. But you know,
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  I feel like my strength is in my arm, but I also feel
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  like I can I can do really good things with my legs. And obviously,
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  being a quarterback, you need to you need to make those plays when
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  when when you need them. Moving from Kansas State to Ohio State means not
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  just a new offensive system, but obviously also new teammates as well. So
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  how much is the chance to play with this group of wide receivers, one
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  of the most talented groups in any room anywhere in the country factor into his
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  choice. Now, here's one of these little little tips. Just he wasn't
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  asked about specific players, So this is one of these times when you just
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  want to pay attention to which guys he mentions by name in this answer.
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  Oh, it had a huge huge impact on it. You know, I
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  I love my guys at k State, and I have nothing bad to say
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  about them, man, But I mean, the talent here is unbelievable,
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  and I just just being being around the guys, and the thing that's impressed
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  me the most about especially the receiver room, is how driven they are and
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  how much they want to work. You know, I don't have to go
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  out there and beg these guys go catch. I mean, they're already out
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  here catching on the jugs when I come out to throw. You know,
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  it's like they're incredibly hard working, just all across the room. I mean,
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  we got dudes like Carnell and Brandon Innis and obviously a Mecca and all
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  those guys like I mean, that's that's just tip of the iceberg, Like
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  there is so much talent in that room, and being able to throw to
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  guys like that makes my job a lot easier, all right. So,
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  if you were listening closely, you heard him mention Carnell, Tate, Brandon
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  Ennis, and Ameca Abuca. Just just one of these little indicators to file
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  away in the back of your mind for later. But just those are the
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  names that, unprompted he mentioned. Just keep those in mind for later.
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  This year when we're talking about wide receivers. Now, what about Jeremiah Smith?
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  Five star, number one prospect in the whole nation, regardless of position.
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  He was asked about Jeremiah Smith specifically. So this is one where you
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  got to keep in mind the early and roly freshmen are still basically working on
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  their own right now. Stepper from the veterans, so he really hasn't had
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  a chance to get to know Jeremiah Smith too much, but here are his
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  first impressions of Jeremiah Smith. Dude, he's a dude. Man. I
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  haven't haven't gotten to talk to him that much yet, you know, just
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  because we've been in different groups lifting and stuff. But man, he's a
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  specimen. I mean that dude is a freak show when it comes to physical
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  I mean he is. I'm excited to see him out on the field and
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  live action. It'll be it'll be fun. You heard her mentioned earlier that
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  he was projected somewhere between the third and sixth rounds of the NFL Draft.
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  So what kind of feedback did he receive. What does the NFL folks need
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  to see from him to improve that projection for next year? I feel like
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  the resounding thing that I heard from from these NFL guys and from people around
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  the league was you need to play more and we need to see more high
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  level play. And I feel like, you know, I played a lot
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  of football in my time at Case State, but you know, I only
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  had one year where I was really the true starter and where I played,
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  you know, the whole year for the most part, I was a backup,
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  filling in. And I felt like, you know, there's a bunch
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  of statistics and things that they look at, and you know, I was
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  on the very lowest end of like, you know, the amount of yards
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  that you're supposed to throw for, and you know, you look at the
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  success stories versus the you know, failure stories, and there was just so
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  many signs that were pointing to coming back, and really in my heart,
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  and that was at the end of the day, I mean, it was
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  up to me. It was my gut, and I felt like I just
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  wasn't ready to leave college yet I still had more I wanted to accomplish.
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  So this is one of those sort of leading questions. But you know,
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  is this an offense where Will Howard feels like the offense might be able to
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  help him hit those benchmarks that the NFL folks are looking for, and was
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  that the driving factor or behind his decision to come to Ohio State. Absolutely,
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  And I mean the biggest thing was I felt like I could come compete
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  here to win a national championship, and that, above anything else, was
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  one of the most important things. Like I felt like I just had more
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  I wanted to accomplish in college and I wasn't done yet, And that was
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  I think what really drew me here. Obviously, you know, getting to
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  the next level, and you know, playing in an offense like this,
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  I think is really going to prepare me for that next level and give me
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  the best shot. And that's all just really sugar on the cake, you
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  know. For me, it has seemed like a real challenge for a lot
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  of teams to keep their quarterback rooms with at least three to four scholarship guys.
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  Ohio State right now has five scholarship guys kind of along with me,
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  Will Howard, Devin Brown, Lincoln Keenholes, Aaron Noland, Julian saying,
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  that's five scholarship quarterback in that room. So what is that like to have
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  such a stocked room? And has he talked to the coaching stuff already about
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  how those reps are going to get divided up this spring with so many guys
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  back there. Yeah, I mean we definitely talked about it. You know,
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  it's we're all we're all here to compete, and we're all here to
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  you know, help the Buckeyes win. That's that's all we're here for.
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  And that was you know, that was made evident when I you know,
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  when I came on my visit, and you know, the thing that I'm
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  the most fired up about is how good the dudes in the room are and
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  how good they've been to me. You know, they could have you know,
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  believe me, I've been in a situation where we brought in an older
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  transfer kid and and you know they could have been you know, mad and
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  not talk to me and not helped me out. But I mean Devin and
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  Lincoln and the guys that have been around, they they've they've really helped us
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  a lot, especially us us three new guys. And you know, I
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  know I'm older and I've done things, but still just learning a new system,
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  learning, you know, how we do things in the weight room,
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  how we you know, go about our business in the locker room. It's
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  just everything's a little different. So I'm so thankful for those guys that they've
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  just I mean, they've helped me so much just getting getting accustomed to,
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  you know, being in this being in this building really and finally two five
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  star through freshman quarterbacks in the same room. You know, we're gonna be
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  talking about Aaron Nolan and Julian saying a good bit this year. I'm going
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  to wager let's start with Will Howard's first thoughts, first impressions on those two
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  young freshman court. Really good dudes, really good kids, and really talented
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  too. I mean, they can they can both spin the ball really well.
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  You know, they're they're young, and they you know, they know
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  they got a lot to learn, and and so do I. You know,
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  I'm right there with them. You know, I think we're we're we're
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  all trying to learn this together, even you know, Coach O'Brien a little
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  bit, and we're we're we're hitting the ground running. But you know,
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  it's exciting. Those those two guys are are special, special young kids.
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  We I hope you guys enjoyed that a little chance to get to know Will
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  Howard a little bit. What does he what does he look like? What
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  does he sound like? Get to know him a little bit as we head
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  into the spring. He is obviously going to be one of the main characters
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  of spring football in then battle for the starting quarterback job. Well Howard,
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  Devin Brown, Mink and Keeneholes maybe one of the true freshmen. We'll have
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  to see. It's going to be a very very interesting spring, and this
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  gonna be a great spring to be a part of Buckeye huddle dot com.
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  Kevin Tony and I covering the team, Mark covering recruiting, our whole team
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  of ex's, and those gurus making you a smarter football fan breaking down what
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  some of those new offensive innovations might be, New twists on the offense with
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  a new quarterback and a new coordinator, all that fun stuff all at bucke
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  huddle dot com and of course at YouTube dot com slash Buckeyehuddle as well.
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  Thank you guys all for joining us. Have a great day. We will
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  talk to you tomorrow.