Will Howard did not move to make a quick decision in the transfer portal. It resulted in a “weird” process but ultimately worked out in the end.

During his first media appearance at Ohio State, Howard said Tuesday a lot went into his transfer decision. In the end, he viewed a chance to play at Ohio State under Ryan Day as an opportunity he could not pass up.

“There were a lot of reasons but when I got to the end it was more of like ‘Why not?’ I just felt like this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up on, and I thought had a really good relationship with Coach Day, thought he was a really good guy,” said Howard. “Obviously didn’t know about the Coach (Bill) O’Brien news but that fires me up. Just so many things that went into this decision. It was a long, weird journey in the portal, but I couldn’t be more happier to be here.”

Howard eventually revisited his decision in the Q&A and said there was some pressure at times from other programs to get a commitment. The star quarterback eventually said Miami and USC were other programs he was in contact with, but he did not label the source of that pressure.

“At times it felt rushed, and at times it felt like I was pressing. People were like ‘We need a commitment, we need this.’ But I just throughout the whole process prayed and trusted God and knew his plan for me would be greater and I would wind up where I was meant to be,” Howard explained. “That paid off tenfold. I feel like I landed in the best possible place for myself.”

As for O’Brien as the new offensive coordinator, Howard said he’s excited for the knowledge and experience he brings to the offense:

“He seems very relatable, someone I can get along with very well. Very smart… has done some really good things at some really big-time places,” said Howard. “Just the experience he brings that I’ll be able to feed off of.”