In a recruiting triumph, Ohio State welcomed Quinn Ewers, the top-ranked high school football prospect in the country, to campus in the summer of 2021.
The young quarterback from the Dallas suburbs had reopened his recruitment less than a year prior, having retracted his pledge to play for the Texas Longhorns. He now appeared to be the next in line to assist the dominant Buckeyes in winning the national football championship for collegiate football.
After more than three years, Ohio State advanced to Friday’s semifinal in Arlington, Texas, thanks to two decisive wins to start the College Football Playoff. A national championship is only two victories away for Ewers.
He now plays for Texas, though.
Even as a football tale, the reunion with national title stakes would be noteworthy. He used to live with Jack Sawyer, a standout defensive end for the Buckeyes who will try to sack Ewers on Friday.
The goal of both colleges is to end title droughts. Ohio State last won a national championship in 2014, and Texas last did it in 2005. The victor will play the winner of the other semifinal, which will be between Penn State and Notre Dame, at the national championship in Atlanta on January 20.
Ahead of Friday’s Cotton Bowl, the location of one semifinal, Ewers told reporters, “I don’t regret any decision I’ve made on going or anything like that.” He claimed that his friendships with several of his Ohio State classmates are still so strong that it would be as if we were hanging out yesterday if I saw them strolling down the street.
Ewers’ story has also emerged as one of the best examples of how the NCAA is changing.
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Players were finally entitled to get legal compensation for the use of their names, photos, and likenesses starting in June 2021. In the future, players will also be eligible to receive a portion of the money their schools make. However, it is now simpler than ever to move schools without incurring penalties due to loosened regulations.
Ewers was originally scheduled to graduate from high school in the spring of 2022, but he decided to sign with Ohio State by skipping his senior year and reclassifying to the class of 2021.
His connections with coaches like Ryan Day, who gave Ewers a scholarship when he was in the seventh grade, served as part of his driving force. (He was actually a boy at the time, and Day claimed that he had a great release.) The chance to profit from NIL payments as a collegiate athlete, which he would not have been able to get had he stayed in high school in Texas, was a major consideration in his decision to accelerate his college career, Ewers stated on Monday.
According to Ewers, one of the primary issues was that the Texas Legislature was not going to permit high school football players to get compensation. I’m not sure if you guys recall this or not. And my family and I had a significant opportunity ahead of us, and we decided it was wise for me to continue and enroll early at Ohio State instead of my senior year. This would allow us to put some nice money in our family’s pockets.
Ewers revealed his first endorsement with a kombucha brand just days before he arrived on the Ohio State campus in August 2021. Ewers quickly inked a NIL contract with a sports marketing firm worth $1.4 million over three years, according to ESPN.
Ewers switched to Texas to play under the Longhorns’ new coach, Steve Sarkisian, after less than three months and one semester at Ohio State.
One of the reasons I returned to Texas was to be nearer to my home state, my resources, and the connections I’ve made over the years simply because I’m from Texas, Ewers stated.
Ewers has made the most money from those resources of any collegiate athlete throughout his three seasons as the starting quarterback for the Longhorns. According to a count by On3, he has inked up to 25 NIL deals with businesses that produce a range of goods, including jerky, tea, video games, and streaming networks.
It’s possible that Ewers’ career will take one more turn. Ewers, who may turn pro and declare for the NFL draft this month, was offered $6 million by an unidentified school to sign a contract to play another season of college at the NCAA, according to a report published in late December by On3. Ewers is already among the largest beneficiaries of collegiate athletics’ new period of permissiveness, purely financially speaking. He is currently attempting to earn the College Football Playoffs’ top prize.
His former team, however, is in his way.