Will Howard Exposes Miami For Using NIL As Top Recruiting Tool

Will Howard was the most sought-after quarterback in the transfer portal prior to the 2024 college football season. He chose to play at Ohio State but Miami offered him more NIL money.

The reigning national champion recently revealed why he picked the Buckeyes over the Hurricanes and it serves as a great recruiting tool for Ryan Day.

Howard began his college football career with four up-and-down years at Kansas State. The Wildcats ultimately squeezed him out in favor of Avery Johnson, which led him to enter the portal as a rising fifth-year senior with one year of eligibility remaining.

USC, Texas A&M and Auburn were considered to be the schools in most need of a quarterback at the time. However, it ultimately came down Miami and Ohio State. Howard called it a “long, weird journey.”

The decision to play one season in Columbus was made with one thing in mind. Well, two. Howard wanted to win a national championship and to best develop as a player with the NFL as the goal.

Both of those things worked out. Will Howard won a national title in January and was drafted by the Steelers in the sixth round last month.

There was a lot of chatter about the amount of NIL money spent by the Buckeyes on last year’s roster. The most circulated number was $20 million. It was assumed that Howard received a good chunk of those funds on a one-year deal. And he probably did!

However, he revealed the truth about NIL on the Footbahlin Podcast. The Hurricanes actually offered him the most amount of money. Howard chose development over finances.

It is always interesting to hear an athlete pull back the curtain on the current landscape of college athletics. There are schools that use money as their primary recruiting tool, like Miami!