Transferring to Miami Hurricanes for QB Tate Martell improves situation

Martell spoke to ESPN’s Andrea Adelson about his decision to leave Ohio State and ultimately ending up at Miami. When former Georgia QB Justin Fields decided to transfer to Ohio State because he wasn’t going to be the starting QB with the Bulldogs, Martell decided to do the same in leaving Columbus.

"“Ohio State, that was my dream school. I was sick to my stomach. There was almost a point where I was like, ‘I’m going to roll the dice anyway’ because I wanted to be there. After being there for two years and not playing, I couldn’t risk it anymore. There’s a point where you love your teammates, you love everything about the school and the people there, but you have to start thinking about yourself and not doing it because these are my teammates. They all understood, and they weren’t upset at all. The good thing that happened was that I was told, so I wasn’t in a bad situation. So that’s the only thing I can say that was good about the situation is I wasn’t lied to. This is my move, so I’ve got to make it work however it goes. There’s pressure on myself to go out there and play well and do what I have to do. At first, it was me feeling like I have to live to a certain expectation, but I have to do what I have to do on each play, and do it at my best.”"

Ohio State was extremely accommodating to Martell. Many schools would block a player’s decision to transfer or ability to get a waiver to avoid having to sit out a season after transferring. Ohio State’s stance allowing Martell to move on was the biggest reason he was granted immediate eligibility.

Martell has had a lot of pressure on him since his first scholarship offer from Washington as a 14-year old eighth grader. Add in a TV Show about high school QBs titled Beyond the Lights that Martell took part in and the pressure on him before he attended college was greater than most college football players.

Enos spoke about the pressure of being a QB at a major university and added pressure Martell had from appearing on TV. Enos wants Martell to worry about himself and ignore all the outside noise. Miami fans and foes alike crushed Martell on Twitter after the scrimmage at Traz Powell.