Chapter I: The Recruitment

Sawyer was not expected to announce his commitment to Ohio State in February 2019.

One Saturday afternoon, he had gone to campus with his parents, Lyle and Michelle, before he was supposed to play high school basketball. During their brief visit over the weekend of Super Bowl LIII, Day—who had worked at the company for just a month—told him to give him a call after the basketball game as they were leaving.

“As we were leaving Ohio State, Jack expressed his desire to commit, and I told him, ‘Look, I know this is where you want to go,'” Lyle told cleveland.com. But as your father, I have to force you to persevere and, at the very least, consider a few alternative options. Let’s finish off these few months together, go on a few more visits, and then in June or at any other time, if you want to move there permanently, I have no issues with it.

Two years before even his recruiting took off and before Signing Day, Day himself recommended Sawyer to get some sleep on it before committing to anything.

Sawyer was rated as the top player in his class in the country at the time. Nothing had to be done swiftly by him.

Later that evening, when Lyle was sleeping in the living room, Sawyer gave Day a call, and for some reason, that brief exchange resulted in Day accepting his first pledge as Ohio State’s head coach. It was the perfect example of a teenager disobeying authority on purpose.

He walked downstairs the following morning as his parents were preparing for their yearly Super Bowl watch party and said:

“Well, I guess I committed last night, but we’re gonna talk today to make sure everything is okay.”

“You’re not going to believe what your son did, so you better get home right now,” Lyle informed Michelle over the phone. “So, that Super Bowl Sunday was quite hectic.”

After several hours, the world became aware of it, providing OSU supporters with some fireworks before to watching Tom Brady guide the Patriots to victory over the Rams and win his sixth Super Bowl ring.

It’s not a huge problem that OSU kept a player who lived 20 minutes away from campus in a vacuum. If someone with Sawyer’s level of talent leaves the house, it’s probably a bigger problem.

However, he created the precedent for the next head coach, who had to declare that recruiting would not stop merely because Urban Meyer was no longer in charge of the team.

Sawyer’s dedication also created the conditions for a 2021 recruiting class that remains the best-rated in program history and among the best in college football’s contemporary era. Sawyer was one of 14 recruits ranked in the top 100 and seven five-star prospects. Because the class was so good, there were expectations for both the players’ individual and group performance when it came time for them to step up.

It seemed like Michigan was destined to be the Buckeyes’ victim for at least another ten years, and a national championship seemed inevitable.

However, plans don’t always work out.

Chapter II: “OSU’s Decade”

“I believe Ohio State will be the dominant force in the 2020s. If we were to win five, six, maybe even seven national titles, I wouldn’t be shocked. That may sound absurd, but that is the extent of our mutual faith in our coaching staff and one another.

A few days before the December 2020 signing day for the 2021 recruiting class, a young Jack Sawyer said those things. It is the viewpoint of a young, hopeful athlete who had fallen for the well-deserved buzz around the No. 2 class in the country.

He wasn’t alone, either.

Some even acknowledged in a modest way what this club was capable of, while others even went so far as to predict that they would win the national championship three times in a row. While the next generation of talent was getting ready to arrive in January, their future head coach was in Year 2, barely a month away from having participated in the national championship game.

With Sawyer at its core, the future seemed bright.

Their initial results indicated they had every right to be so proud of themselves. Members of that class, knowing they would have to rely on youth, carved out major roles even as freshmen.

However, what was meant to be the start of Ohio State’s “decade run” ended bitterly. The Buckeyes lost to Michigan for the first time in ten years, which shocked the system and was supposed to be easily fixed the next year.

Rather, it was a precursor to things to come, even as Sawyer faced impending tribulation.

Chapter III: Stunted Growth

There are expectations when you arrive at Ohio State with a five-star profile.

You have a prescribed course of action that culminates in Roger Goodell calling your name in the first round of the NFL Draft three years after it begins.

Even if there is a significant gap between you and the real starter, as a rookie, you should, at the very least, be in the two-deep as you are still learning.

You take on a starting role in Year 2 and start converting your occasional bursts of brilliance into consistency.

Everything clicks into place by your junior year, and you become one of the top players in the country. You should never consider taking a fourth year.

With All-Americans and high first-round selections in Joey Bosa, Nick Bosa, and Chase Young, OSU supporters have witnessed it in action. However, it’s also wrong to impose it on someone because every person has a different route.

Sawyer said to cleveland.com, “You don’t know what you don’t know at that point.” “You’re innocent and young. And occasionally, guys just grow up differently. Some people require a few years to reach their goals and overcome the mental challenge of playing collegiate football.

Comparing is enjoyable. While it’s enjoyable to place expectations on children, I detest placing expectations on first-year students, having gone through it myself. All I want is for them to progress at their own pace and with the knowledge that they will find their own way there.

People began comparing Sawyer to “Baby Bosa” from an early age. But because he hasn’t always been a defensive end, his journey has been very different.

Before the 2022 campaign, Day brought in Jim Knowles as defensive coordinator, and Knowles’ new role at Oklahoma State helped him build one of the greatest defenses in the country. The “jack” is expected to be a versatile player who can fly all over the field and make plays, a cross between an outside linebacker and an edge rusher.

At the time, Sawyer, Zach Harrison, and J.T. Tuimoloau were OSU’s three five-star defensive ends. At the time, Knowles believed Sawyer was the best candidate for the jack position, which wasn’t really filled by many players on the team.

He detested it.

It was an unfamiliar role that took him too long to get used to and made him feel uncomfortable. He was never able to reach that stage, and as the season went on, Sawyer and the jack became less noticeable.

Due to his time being split between learning two positions, the position transfer may have even hampered his growth on the defensive end.

The fact that Sawyer saw Tuimoloau blossom during the best parts of the season surely didn’t help either. However, Sawyer never expressed his dissatisfaction, instead drawing strength from it to go through his darkest periods as a Buckeye.

If I’m being completely honest with you, the first few years didn’t go at all like I had planned for it to,” Sawyer admitted. “I believe a great deal of people would concur. There were days, weeks, and months filled with frustrating times. I never wavered in my commitment to the idea that I would eventually start to perform well on the field.

OSU defensive line coach Larry Johnson told Cleveland.com, “He showed some resilience.” Though it was difficult, he remained unwavering. He didn’t return and throw a sob fest. He listened as we chatted through the difficult moments. One quality of Jack is that he will listen to you.

Sawyer had a difficult second year, but he overcame it with optimism.He had faith that there will be light at the end of the tunnel eventually.

Chapter IV: The Revolution

Johnson is able to pinpoint the precise moment from Sawyer’s breakout season last year, some of which is related to Tuimoloau.

Johnson remarked, “You saw it coming that sixth game.” It was simply unique.

The fact that there is a man on the opposing side of the field plays a big part in it. It occurs to him, “You know what, I really need to step it up here.” In a way, that altered him slightly. You witnessed those two guys become closer after that. Instead of battling against one another, they were fighting for one another. Jack then just advanced to a next level. You can now achieve it, you know that.

Johnson always intended Sawyer and Tuimoloau to be his greatest works. They are the best-rated players he has ever signed as recruits. Even though none of them has yet to reach the level of superstardom that Johnson did while he was in Columbus, they have nevertheless been successful.

Even if every player reached 90% of their potential, pairing them would provide a challenge that few offensive lines in the country are prepared to handle.

During a 44-31 victory over Penn State in 2022—possibly the best defensive effort in OSU history—Tuimoloau made his debut. Although Sawyer has never reached that height, he began to rise by Week 6 of the previous season and hasn’t stopped since.

Against Minnesota, Michigan, and Missouri, he maintained that extra level of play throughout the final three games, tallying 16 stops, 7.5 tackles for loss, and five sacks.

Sawyer demonstrated that a new side of himself had been revealed, despite the fact that the previous two games were losses.

Or perhaps it was only the first iteration that elevated him to the top five in the 2021 class in the first place.

Sawyer stated, “It just felt like I was playing in high school again.” It gave me a sense of calm. There, I was simply enjoying myself. People tend to forget that playing this game is a blessing. Things finally clicked again the way they did when I started playing for free and enjoying myself.

That is the player who turned down an NFL contract, went into the offseason, and led Ohio State’s defense overhaul for 2024.

“You just have to trust in God because He sometimes takes you on a different path than what you’d expect,” Sawyer remarked. “I did, and I’m so grateful to Him for that.”

Chapter V: A new standard sparked by rivalry

Sawyer predicted his destiny in 2021 after Ohio State suffered its first defeat at the hands of Michigan in ten years. He spotted every potential problem as well as every eventual opportunity for success.

The Buckeyes are the team attempting to snap a losing streak in The game; therefore, the wrong has finally happened. The Wolverines have just had their greatest three-year run in more than 25 years, with three Big Ten titles, three victories against OSU, three trips to the College Football Playoffs, and a 2023 national championship.

The right calls for an odd analogy.

Aidan Hutchinson, a former defensive end for Michigan, understands what it’s like to be in Sawyer’s position. Like many others, he was a hometown kid who aspired to wear maize and blue and take the Wolverines to victory. But he has not lived up to expectations until the Nov. 27, 2021, Michigan vs. Ohio State game. Michigan was not able to overcome the Ohio State hump, and he was competent but not outstanding.

He most likely believed he would be a three-and-done player as well, but an early injury during the 2020 season put an end to those dreams due to the pandemic. While all of that was going on, Michigan collapsed. It finished with a 2-4 record, Jim Harbaugh renegotiated his contract to take a pay cut during the offseason, and Michigan was forced to watch its opponent compete for a national championship.

Thus, Hutchinson led the group of players who came back in 2021 in an attempt to draw a different conclusion. In a snow-covered Michigan Stadium, he destroyed Ohio State’s offense and restored the Wolverines to prominence. It was the ultimate moment of glory.

In the process, he went from being a guy who was, at most, projected to be a late-round selection to being the No. 2 choice in the 2022 NFL Draft, a Heisman Trophy finalist.

What if Sawyer was meant to follow that route?

What if this whole thing was part of a bigger story about an Ohio youngster who, because he wanted to win a national championship for his home school, trusted a new head coach earlier than he had to?

What if, even though he wasn’t aware of it at the time, his career’s path of delayed gratification was all part of the plan?

What if he was always meant to stumble before propelling the program to even greater heights and serving as the inspiration for a class of 2021 players who were previously thought to be the best in the world?

What if Ohio State’s decade-long success required hardship to begin in order to make the conclusion even more satisfying?

What if Ohio State’s lowest point was a 14-3 loss to Missouri while its opponent won a national championship? What if history repeats itself, but to its advantage this time?

After that low point in December, Sawyer sat at the podium, Day to his right. Despite their disappointment over the past, the two cornerstones of this Ohio State football era remained confident that a better future was on the horizon.

Sawyer stated, “You can continue to expect what you saw at the end of this last season moving forward this next season.”

What if Sawyer used the last few games to demonstrate what that looks like, and the rest of the story is his ultimate redemption arc, turning him into the person we’ve always known he was capable of being?

What if Day and Sawyer are seated together at a podium on January 20, 2025?

This time, however, a national championship trophy stands between them as they have ultimately realized the goal they set out to do in 2019, when Sawyer became the first Ryan Day recruit.