Although there are still over five months to go before Ohio State starts its regular season against Texas, it wasn’t too early for first-year quarterbacks coach Billy Fessler to be asked about the quarterback competition on Wednesday.
“I think that we’re just a long way away from even talking about how close it is right now,” Fessler said during a media availability at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Wednesday when asked about how he would describe the quarterback competition. “Those three guys are really just focused on getting better every single time they step in this building, in meeting rooms, step out on the field in practice, that’s really the goal is just finding a way to improve every single time that we’re out here, finding a way to develop some consistency.”
The Buckeyes’ quarterback room consists of only three players, including redshirt sophomore Lincoln Keinholz, sophomore Julian Sayin and freshman Tavien St. Clair.
Sayin, a former five-star and the team’s projected starter was a bit more willing to talk about the looming competition than his first-year position coach.
“I think our room is very competitive, but we’re also very close,” Sayin said. “It’s only three guys in our room, so I think it’s important for us to be close, but also competitive.”
In his first availability ahead of the 2025 season, Sayin got his first taste of what being the projected starting quarterback at Ohio State is like as he was swarmed by reporters as soon as he sat down to field questions.
With a long way to go before a starter is named the Carlsbad, Calif. native is more focused on how he can improve than the outside noise.
“I’m really focused on the fundamentals, improving every day, just getting better and taking what (head coach Ryan Day), (strength coach Mickey Marotti) and Coach Fessler and bringing to the quarterback room,” Sayin said.
Kienholz, a former four-star in his third year with the program, seems to be Sayin’s stiffest competition in the quarterback room.
The vast majority of Kienholz’s experience came during the last game of his true freshman season when he replaced an injured Devin Brown midway through Ohio State’s 14-3 loss to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl.
Kienholz completed just 6-of-17 passes for 86 yards in the game and failed to lead the offense on a scoring drive. At least physically, Kienholz — who has gained nearly 30 pounds since last season— is a completely different player.
“Last year, this winter, off-season, I’ve gotten stronger, and throughout the season last year I was lifting an extra day as well,” Kienholz said, “So I’m just putting myself in the best position to be successful.”
The outside expectations aren’t very high for St. Clair in his true freshman season, but that isn’t because he’s lacking talent. The Bellefontaine native was a top-10 recruit nationally last year and may have gained a head start in his collegiate career by being with the 2024 team for part of its national championship run.
“Just being familiar with the people and the facilities and things like that was big for me,” St. Clair said when asked about how enrolling into Ohio State early helped him ahead of this season. “I was here all the time and got to experience it. I had already had good relationships with everybody here and it was a smooth transition and it’s been good so far.”
Regardless of who is eventually named the team’s starting quarterback, one player will have to deal with the new pressure of leading the Buckeyes. Despite each player’s inexperience, Fessler is confident that his quarterbacks have the mental fortitude needed to lead Ohio State.
“Up in the quarterback room, we’ve got pictures of all the great Ohio State quarterbacks up on the wall, and you go through and take a look at those guys and it’s just pretty neat, but above all, you can talk about some of the different guys’ mental makeup and what made them different,” Fessler said. “And so how do we find those guys and bring them in in recruiting and so we get to the point like we are now, where you feel really confident about all three of those guys that they are mentally tough enough and can be at that point that they can be that guy.”
