Nick Saban’s retirement after the 2023 college football season shook the sport to its core when it happened, and the effects are still being felt to this day. While Alabama is surging as Kalen DeBoer evolves and Ty Simpson is emerging as the top QB in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Buckeyes are on the precipice of vying for a dynasty run. A big reason for why is thanks to Saban’s retirement.
Ohio State star redshirt freshman Julian Sayin is tearing up college football right now, completing an insane 80% of his passes and carrying the Buckeyes’ offense. He’s right there in the Heisman Trophy race, currently possessing the third-best odds in the country. There was a moment when Ohio State wasn’t as thrilled with the talented passer, though.
See below for why Ohio State ace general manager Mark Pantoni was talking about Saban and Sayin on Thursday.
Ohio State is thankful Nick Saban handed them Julian Sayin
The Buckeyes were fighting to land Sayin as a five-star recruit out of high school, but Saban lured the elite prospect to Tuscaloosa to be the heir to the throne behind Jalen Milroe and Simpson. When Saban retired and Ohio State hired former Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien for about a month, Sayin and star safety Caleb Downs came to Columbus.
Pantoni opened up on the process this week for the first time, and it was funny to hear him thanking a man who ran the sport for two decades.
Advertisement
“He was top of the board for us out of high school. Obviously, we were disappointed when he chose Alabama. Coach Saban, we owed him a thank-you note for leaving,” Pantoni announced. He also said he was “disappointed” to lose Sayin initially, but got over it quickly.
View the original article to see embedded media.
“Then, we just had to have internal conversation to make sure it felt good for the room and at the right time. We chose to do so, and he’s obviously stepped right in and been a key part of this team this year.”
“We recruited Julian extremely hard,” said Pantoni, who was a guest on coach Ryan Day’s weekly radio show Thursday. “He was top of the board for us out of high school. Obviously, we were disappointed when he chose Alabama.”
Advertisement
After winning a national championship sitting behind Will Howard and Devin Brown last year, Sayin is now looking to guide this powerhouse Buckeyes roster to a repeat title. Like Simpson, Sayin is also shaping up to be an elite NFL prospect when his time comes in 2027.
window.addEventListener(‘message’, function (event) {if (event.data.totalpoll && event.data.totalpoll.action === ‘resizeHeight’) {document.querySelector(‘#totalpoll-iframe-1524’).height = event.data.totalpoll.value;}}, false);document.querySelector(‘#totalpoll-iframe-1524’).contentWindow.postMessage({totalpoll: {action: ‘requestHeight’}}, ‘*’);
This story was originally reported by A to Z Sports on Oct 24, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
