Will Howard reveals shocking school he almost transferred to before Ohio State

Recently, former Ohio State quarterback Will Howard revealed gut-wrenching news to Notre Dame fans.

The 2024 National Champion appeared on the "Not Just Football" podcast with former Buckeye and current Pittsburgh Steelers teammate Cam Heyward, where he shared the story.

"I thought I was gonna end up at Notre Dame. A lot of people don't know this... This was very under wraps," Howard said.

In the offseason of 2023, Howard was looking for a new place to call home after transferring out of Kansas State for his final year of eligibility. Up until that point, Howard was a strong quarterback, passing for 24 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions with 2,643 passing yards in his last season with the Wildcats.

Throughout his process in the transfer portal, Howard was receiving looks from multiple schools that liked the leader-under-center. One of those schools being the University of Notre Dame, a team that Ohio State most recently dominated in the national championship.

"But, they ended up signing Riley [Leonard] right before I was about to commit. Like, I was about to commit that day, and I call my agent and he's like, 'Sorry buddy, they just told me they took Riley,'" Howard said.

Riley Leonard was in the same boat as Howard. He was looking for a new school to join after transferring from Duke University after his junior season. While being a run-first guy, he had thrown for 1,102 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 352 yards and four scores with the Blue Devils.

He would ultimately join Notre Dame officially with the announcement coming on Dec. 12, 2023.

While this could have been a shot to the gut that destroyed confidence for Howard, he used it as motivation, helping lead the Buckeyes to an incredible 2024 campaign.

"They weren't even talking about him," Howard said. "So that pissed me off. And a lot of people don't know that that had happened going into the national championship."

In that game against Notre Dame, he threw for a clean 231 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for a season high 57 yards. He completed 17-of-21 passes for an 81% completion rate.

"I remember the general manager was standing on the sideline right when we were warming up, and I was staring daggers through him the whole warmup," said Howard. "And I'm a chip-on-my-shoulder guy."

In his sole season with Ohio State, he tossed for an impressive 4,010 yards, 35 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions. Over the course of his give years in college football, the 6'4", 235-pounder only threw a maximum of 10 picks a season. In 2025, it was an average of just 0.63 a game.

That ability to be intentional and poised when passing showed as he put together a career-high 73% passing mark. His most impressive game with Ohio State came against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Oct. 26, 2024, in a regular-season matchup. In that game, he posted a passer rating of 246.7 with three touchdowns and one interception while throwing for 221 yards. He completed 13-of-16 passes as well.

After going on to lead the Buckeyes to a national championship win, he would be drafted in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft with the 185th overall selection. The team to take the game manager would be the Pittsburgh Steelers.