It's that time of the summer where some pretty ridiculous college football takes arrive, but this is one no Ohio State fan probably saw coming. Apparently, anonymous players and coaches have communicated to Josh Pate that star quarterback Julian Sayin doesn't play the game with enough heart. Excuse us?
Yup, while in front of the mic recently, Pate brought up intel that he has received, with people questioning if Sayin has enough heart and desire to lead Ohio State back to where it wants to be. Not only is Sayin the lone returning Heisman finalist from last year, but he's a former 5-star prospect who just wrapped up his first season starting for the Buckeyes. Any notion of him not having what it takes to help power Ohio State to glory is lazy, and just weak overall.
I would love to know who the coaches and players are that said Julian Sayin lacks heart and desire.
— JBook. (@JBook_37) July 17, 2026
How does that come up? "You didn't hear it from me but...that Ohio State QB, I don't think he has heart."https://t.co/iGJayfuDub pic.twitter.com/HPmbB5vJNv
Ohio State QB Julian Sayin getting called out for not having heart is beyond silly
"I wonder against Indiana, or maybe it's a Playoff game, I wonder if there's a leveling up, that's all," Pate said. "I don't question his heart at all. That wasn't the message that I was delivering there. What I was doing was echoing sentiment that I 1,000 percent have gotten from several people in college football. Players and coaches, because they do question his heart. I've heard that enough times to where I wrap it up in a ball, and I'll throw it out there."
Pate went on to double down that he himself is not calling out Sayin at all. If anything, he's glad he brought things up, because Pate believes Sayin will use this negative talk around his game and personality to blow up next season and silence people who want to try and bring him down. That's all good and well, but the fact that players/coaches are bashing Sayin this way is infuriating.
What has led people to believe that he doesn't have enough heart? Maybe because he's not screaming his head off at teammates when things go south, but instead showing a positive and calm demeanor. Newsflash, that's what you want in a quarterback, not someone who's going after guys or hitting the proverbial panic button when not everything is cooking with gas.
Last campaign, Sayin took over for Will Howard, who had just powered the Buckeyes to the natty. In his first year starting, Sayin tossed for 3,610 yards, 32 touchdowns, and only eight interceptions. No, he wasn't perfect throwing the pigskin all over the field for Ryan Day, but he was without a doubt one of the top quarterbacks in the country.
Now that he's gotten a taste of Big Ten football, he's only going to play with more fire this campaign, especially after Ohio State lost the conference title game to Indiana, followed by a loss to Miami in the College Football Playoff. Sayin wasn't to blame for those two losses, but people are quick to paint that picture for no good reason.
Should the Buckeyes struggle this season, that's of course going to be on Sayin, but we think the opposite is going to be the case. When you play for a school like Ohio State, everyone will be racing to get cheap shots in, which is never fair. This is what's happening with Sayin's heart coming into question. It's ridiculous, and people are in for a rough surprise if they don't think the QB will use these negative words to put on a show in 2026. He has what it takes to help Ohio State push for a national title next winter, and we don't care if that thought is disagreed with.
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