The appeal was Nick Saban.

When Julian Sayin enrolled at Alabama last December, he envisioned playing for Nick Saban, the legendary coach who had built the Crimson Tide into a modern dynasty.

“We had a great relationship through the recruiting process,” Sayin said, “and I loved Coach Saban. I really wanted to go play for him.”

In a matter of weeks, the plans changed. Saban retired in early January, informing players soon after their return from the Rose Bowl.

Though Saban was 72, the second-oldest coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the decision sent a shock through the Crimson Tide facility.

“I would say we were caught by surprise,” Sayin said.

Sayin, a southern California native who had been the top-ranked quarterback recruit in his high school class, reevaluated the situation. The easing of the NCAA’s transfer regulations made it possible for him to look elsewhere.

Following a coaching change, players have 30 days to put their names into the transfer portal, the online database that allows them to contact other schools.

Sayin needed only nine.

“There was definitely a lot of emotions,” Sayin said, “but I had my family to lean on. They helped me through it, and I was able to make the right decision.”

He settled on Ohio State, transferring to the school later that month, a move he revisited Tuesday as the Buckeyes were going through their first week of preseason training camp.

“Really, I just wanted to be at a school with a great tradition, great quarterback history, and somewhere I could develop,” Sayin said.

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Sayin knew coach Ryan Day as well. The Buckeyes had attempted to flip his commitment a year earlier after seeing Dylan Raiola, their previous quarterback pledge, look elsewhere.

Bill O’Brien, who was then newly hired as offensive coordinator, had also been in the same role at Alabama when he first committed to the Crimson Tide.

“I had a good relationship with him,” Sayin said.

While O’Brien left for a head-coaching job at Boston College soon after his arrival, Sayin bonded with his replacement, Chip Kelly. The two of them had ties to California as Kelly had been the coach at UCLA since 2018 before leaving the Bruins.

As a result of his recruiting pedigree, Sayin is an intriguing figure in the revamped quarterback room at Ohio State.

It remains a tall order for him to scale the depth chart. Will Howard, the transfer from Kansas State, is seen as the likely starter behind center due to his experience. He made 27 starts with the Wildcats since 2020.

But Sayin has taken a lot of reps in practices and could be the Buckeyes’ future at the position. Howard is in his final year of eligibility. Injuries could thrust anyone into a more prominent role this fall, too.

Day and Kelly have both heaped praise on Sayin this offseason.

It was last month when Day compared the speed of his delivery to Dwayne Haskins Jr., the decorated passer who was a Heisman Trophy finalist with the Buckeyes in 2018.

“He’s very twitchy,” Day said. “People talk about the twitch like the lower half, but he’s twitchy from the waist up, how fast the ball comes out of his hands. And his mind works that way as well. That’s a good trait to have as a quarterback.”

Kelly, who also coaches the quarterbacks in addition to coordinating, remarked on his demeanor this week. In the five preseason practices, Sayin has remained calm in between reps, keeping even-keeled.

“He stays in the moment,” Kelly said. “That’s the one thing I like about him. If he throws a bad ball, it doesn’t bother him. If he throws a good ball, he doesn’t get overexcited and say, ‘Hey, I just arrived.’

“He’s always thinking about the next snap, and he’s done a really good job with it.”

The mental game is important to Sayin, too.

When he studies quarterbacks for his personal growth, he likes to watch Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals and Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers. Herbert is a favorite. Growing up in San Diego’s North County, he attended Chargers games at Qualcomm Stadium before their move up the coast.

But most of all, he seeks to emulate Herbert and Burrow due to their savvy decision-making.

It’s a quality he sees as translating to his level of the sport, a potential asset for the Buckeyes.

“I think I can be a really good decision-maker for the offense,” he said, “and someone who an offensive coordinator can trust.”

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @joeyrkaufman or email him at jkaufman@dispatch.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football quarterback Julian Sayin on transfer from Alabama