Brady Edmunds had other doors open, but the 4-star 2027 quarterback from Huntington Beach, California, kept coming back to the same two schools: Ohio State and UCLA. Northwestern surfaced as a possibility, too, yet the real decision was whether he would stay on the West Coast with the Bruins or stick with the Buckeyes, the family favorite.
In the end, he stayed with Ohio State. Edmunds said the choice came down to where he believed he would be happiest, and he made it clear that both programs offered something appealing.
“I feel like both opportunities were great opportunities for me. I think for me, the biggest thing I always thought all along was that I was gonna make the most out of whatever opportunity I end up at, and what ultimately came down to it was where I thought I was gonna be the happiest,” Edmunds told Eleven Warriors.
He also pointed to advice he got early in the process that helped shape how he looked at the decision.
“I think it was an Eastern Washington coach my freshman year; he wasn't recruiting me or anything, but he just told me, like, ‘When you're making your decision, take away football and can you see yourself there?’ So I think that was kind of the biggest thing during my process. And you might think, like, oh, close to home, UCLA, 45 minutes away, but ultimately, I thought Columbus was the better fit for me.”
For Edmunds, that fit also has to do with timing. Ohio State’s quarterback room looks loaded for the next stretch, with Julian Sayin drawing major preseason buzz ahead of 2026 and Tavien St.
Clair already carrying huge expectations before his potential 2027 debut. Arthur Smith’s presence only adds to the sense that the Buckeyes’ next two quarterbacks are on a fast track to the NFL.
Sayin is being picked by many for Preseason All-Big Ten honors, though not as many as Oregon’s Dante Moore. After an efficient 2025 season, he’s expected to take another step with an offensive line projected to be better.
St. Clair, meanwhile, is already being talked about in lofty terms. Former Buckeyes receiver Chris Carter compared him to Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes, a comment that pushed the hype even higher.
That leaves Edmunds with a path that may not be as long as it once looked. If Sayin heads to the NFL after this fall and St. Clair follows one to two years later, the door could open sooner than expected for Edmunds to compete for the QB1 job.
And that matters in Columbus. Edmunds and his family understand how valuable the starting quarterback spot has been there in recent years - and how much more valuable it has been than in Westwood.
Even if he never ends up winning the job, Edmunds could still be in a strong position at Ohio State. Becoming the next Lincoln Kienholz would be one outcome. The next Kyle McCord would be another.
In Other News...
Ohio State Is Suddenly Making Noise For A Tough SEC Country Target
Ohio States recruiting momentum has already shown up in the class with commitments from five-star offensive tackle Marcus Fakatou and four-star lineman Karlos May, even as the Buckeyes took a miss on five-star running back David Gabriel Georges, who picked Tennessee. Now the attention has shifted to a different kind of target in four-star safety CJ Craig-James, a player from SEC country who has kept Ohio State in the mix and given the Buckeyes reason to believe this one is not as long a shot as it once looked.
Craig-James has already trimmed his list and included Ohio State among the schools still standing, which matters for a program trying to keep its foot in the door with elite defensive backs. The next step is the one that tends to separate real contenders from hopefuls, and Ohio State likely needs to get him on campus for a game-day visit to stay in the conversation, even though no date has been set yet. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Just Crossed A Line College Football Fans Saw Coming
Notre Dames latest move in the name, image and sponsorship era is about more than a logo and a check. The school has entered a multi-year partnership with SoFi Technologies that makes the financial services company the official partner of the athletic department, with the agreement built around helping student-athletes and their families beyond their time on campus. The deal also includes the SoFi Champions Scholarship and a student-athlete services hub aimed at financial education, planning and support.
For college sports fans, the bigger takeaway is how quickly the ground is shifting around traditional power programs, and Notre Dame is now leaning into that reality in a very visible way. The partnership puts a premium on long-term support for athletes, but it also signals how aggressively schools are monetizing their brands in ways that would have been hard to imagine not long ago, especially for a program that has long guarded its image so closely. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Just Entered A New Era With JPMorgan Chase
Ohio State athletics is heading into a new commercial era, one that reaches far beyond the football field. The school announced a partnership with JPMorgan Chase that will put the banks logo on jerseys across all 36 varsity sports beginning in the 2026-27 season, adding another visible layer to a department that continues to operate on a bigger, more corporate stage than ever before.
The agreement also brings support for NIL opportunities and financial literacy programs for student-athletes, which gives the deal a broader purpose than simple branding. With the partnership reportedly worth nearly $17 million annually, it underscores how major athletic departments are increasingly tying competitive, financial and educational priorities together, even if the full impact of this one will not be felt until the new era officially arrives. [Read more 🡒]