Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch-USA TODAY NETWORK

Joe Burrow admits his time at Ohio State may have looked very different in today’s era of college football

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Brandon Little | Last updated Feb 8, 2025 3:42 PM ET

Joe Burrow’s 2019 season at LSU is one of the best individual seasons you will ever see in football. Though Burrow is remembered for that National Championship season, people often forget he was not always a Tiger.

After being a top-300 four-star recruit from Athens, Ohio in the class of 2015, Burrow committed to Ohio State and spent three seasons in Columbus with the Buckeyes.

It was not until after the 2017 season that Burrow left Columbus and transferred to LSU. Back when Burrow was in Columbus, it was not free transfer in college with a portal to do so. Burrow did not transfer from Ohio State until after he graduated. Which, he believes that all would have worked differently in today’s era of college football.

“I probably would have transferred much earlier than I did, but I had to graduate to go and play [somewhere else],” Burrow said recently on “The Dan Patrick Show”. “At the time, the transfer portal wasn’t a thing. I think it became a thing the next year after I transferred, and I still think you had to sit out a year.”

After redshirting in 2015, Burrow played in 11 games over the next two seasons with the Buckeyes. The former four-star recruit completed 29-of-39 passes for 287 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Burrow was average in his first season at LSU in 2018 with 2,894 passing yards, 16 touchdowns, and five interceptions.

In 2019, the Burrow that we all know today was born. The former Buckeye won a Heisman with LSU and a National Championship in the same season. Burrow threw 60 touchdown passes to just six interceptions and totaled 5,671 passing yards in the process.

In today’s era of college football, NIL is a big factor and you have to pay big to land the best players. Ohio State spent at least $20 million to put their 2024 roster together and it resulted in a National Championship. Burrow wasn’t able to win the starting job during his time at Ohio State and was beaten out by Dwayne Haskins in the end. If the transfer portal and NIL had been a factor, it may have not even come to that battle with Haskins.

Things worked out great for Burrow and now he is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals. Outside of Ohio State and Bengals fans, not many people recall that Burrow went to Ohio State. It is crazy to think how much less than a decade can change things in college football and how much it would have changed things back then for players like Burrow.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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