Why did Quinn Ewers leave Ohio State? Exploring potential reasons behind Texas QB's transfer

From his spot on the depth chart to image and likeness concerns, there has been a lot of speculation about why Quinn Ewers transferred from Ohio State to Texas. As expected, this question was asked by the media as soon he was made available after transferring in 2022.

Quinn Ewers explained that he just wanted to play for his home-state Longhorns. He would go on to say that being closer to his family and friends played a large part in his decision to return to the school he originally committed to.

"I grew up watching the Longhorns play... Wanting to be in that burnt orange..."

Ewers was widely thought of as the overall top recruit in his class. In 2020, he would commit to the University of Texas, his home state. A few months later, he would decommit to Texas before announcing he would be playing for Ohio State in 2021.

In Ewers' freshman year with the Buckeyes, he took just one snap late in a 56-7 blowout win against Michigan State. After that season, he announced his move to the University of Texas. After two seasons with the Longhorns, Ewers has thrown for 5,656 yards and 37 touchdowns.

In 2023, the Longhorns finished as the No. 3 team in the nation with a record of 12-2 and made an appearance in the College Football Playoff Semi-Finals. After all the success he has brought to Texas, is playing for his home team truly the reason he returned to the Longhorns? College football fans and Ohio State coach Ryan Day seem to have other opinions.

Why did Quinn Ewers transfer to Texas?

Massive NIL deals

Another potential reason Quinn Ewers could have chosen to transfer from Ohio State to Texas is because of the opportunity for more profitable NIL deals. NIL stands for "name, image, and likeness." It refers to players' abilities to profit off themselves. A few different reports have come out saying Ewers would receive more profitable NIL deals if he transferred to Texas.

While at Ohio State, Ewers had signed an NIL deal worth $1.4 million with GT Sports Marketing along with a Texas company called Holy Kombucha. While the amount of many of these deals is not known to the public, he currently also holds NIL deals with Wrangler, Panini America, Ryl Tea, Octane Football, Sonic, Fortnite and C4 Energy.

Failing to beat out C.J. Stroud

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day seems to think Quinn Ewers left his program due to not being able to win the starting quarterback job over C.J. Stroud. After a preseason competition between the freshman Ewers and redshirt freshman C.J. Stroud, Ryan Day named Stroud as the starter for the 2021 season.

After spending the whole season on the bench behind Stroud, Ewers announced his decision to transfer to Texas. When Day was asked about Ewers' decision, he would claim it was "a very unique situation."

While Quinn Ewers has seemingly clarified his reasoning, there are still some who believe his transfer decision had a few underlying motives.