Two postseason losses and a lost shot at the Heisman Trophy defined a season that has put a chip on Julian Sayin’s shoulder. His regular season was almost flawless. But the postseason failures saw his chances of winning the Heisman Trophy slip away after Mendoza won the Big 10 Championship game. While that can be difficult for any quarterback to deal with, Sayin received some much-needed advice from his brother, Aiden Smith, on how to approach the next season.

“I think some of the best advice that I can give him [Julian Sayin] and have been giving him through this whole process is to take it day by day. To realize that your process is the most important part,” Aidan said. “The outcome will come in the end, but we want to be process-oriented people who focus on our day-to-day habits because that’s what’s going to build our future. If we just focus on the outcome, you’ll never actually make it there.”

Sayin enters a new season with fresh expectations. Ohio State remains one of the top programs in the country. Ryan Day has also strengthened the roster through the transfer portal. With key players like Jeremiah Smith, Bo Jackson, running back Isaiah West, and wide receiver Brandon Inniss returning, Sayin will still have a familiar offense around him heading into the next season.

Even though the 2025 season did not go his way, Sayin will still have more chances to win the Heisman Trophy that eluded him. Beyond the individual award, Sayin will also focus on larger team goals. Another reason for Sayin to stay calm is that he still has two years of eligibility remaining after next season. His freshman season was so impressive that expectations quickly rose around him. Sayin finished the year with a 77.0% completion rate, throwing for 3,610 yards, 32 touchdowns, and eight interceptions.

Although the season did not end with a trophy, Sayin still delivered several memorable performances. His quadruple touchdown game against Wisconsin and his strong showing against rival Michigan showed that Ohio State has a special talent at quarterback. Now, with his brother also in Columbus supporting him, Sayin can move into the new season with much more confidence.

Playing QB for the Buckeyes is usually a one year period for most players. The only QBs who have played two seasons under Ryan Day are Justin Fields (2019, 2020) and C. J. Stroud (2021, 2022). All of these two-year starters also made the playoff semifinals. Following this trend, we can expect that Ohio State will probably make a much deeper playoff run next season under a seasoned Sayin.

Then there is the new OC in Arthur Smith who is bound to change up the offensive philosophy. “Obviously, a great offensive coordinator in the NFL and someone I can learn a lot from. … It’s been great. I love working with him,” said Sayin about Arthur Smith. “As a quarterback, you’re going to have to learn new offenses and learn new verbiage and stuff like that, so it’s been great to see that new perspective.”

Columbus will see two Sayins playing quarterback. While Julian will focus on leading Ohio State in the Big Ten, Aiden will prepare for the Columbus Aviators’ first season in the UFL as a new franchise. Even as his own journey began, Aiden made sure to offer his brother words of encouragement. And that message seems to be helping already, as Julian works on improving the areas that cost Ohio State in the postseason last year.

Julian Sayin focusing on commanding the line of scrimmage

One major issue that hurt Ohio State last season was the O-Line’s inability to protect Julian Sayin. The Buckeyes allowed a combined 10 sacks in the Big Ten Championship Game against Indiana and the College Football Playoff quarterfinal against Miami. That pressure limited Sayin’s ability to make plays and hurt Ohio State’s offense at crucial moments.

As a result, Sayin revealed that he has been focusing on improving communication and control at the line of scrimmage.

“I think we’ve done a lot of giving the quarterback more responsibility at the line of scrimmage with what we’ve been running these past few days,” Sayin said after a recent spring practice. “It also comes with showing more leadership out there and really taking command of the offense. Telling guys, ‘This is the route I want you to run, this is the depth, this is the timing,’ because I’m the one throwing the ball.”

Ryan Day also has faith in his starting QB. “There aren’t too many guys his age that, you know, in one year of playing, I’ve made it to New York City,” Ryan Day said. “And so for me, when you look at that position, a lot of the guys have been older guys, guys that either transferred from the school where they were or had played multiple years. And so for his first year as a start, he did a lot of great things. This is exciting for us.”

With that focus already in place, Sayin and the Buckeyes are entering the 2026 season determined to win what eluded them last year.