Julian Sayin’s family group chat was blowing up, and for once, it wasn’t about a touchdown pass or a Heisman highlight. A video had gone viral, captured by a classmate during the discussion portion of an online sports marketing class in the first week of school. The students had been asked to share their wellness habits, and instead of identifying himself as Ohio State’s starting quarterback or a Heisman Trophy candidate, Julian kept it as low-key as possible. He tried, in that moment, to be nothing more than a normal college student. “My name is Julian Sayin, I just prefer Julian,” he began. “My major is sport industry. I wouldn’t really say I want to change too much about my physical activity — I feel like I have a pretty good routine, I’m pretty active, I play sports. And one interesting thing about me is I love to play golf and I love playing pickleball.” The clip spread quickly, partly because of how effortlessly casual he was, and partly because there was something almost funny about a player at the center of the college football universe introducing himself like a guy at a meet-and-greet. But his family wasn’t surprised. “It’s very Julian,” his older brother, Aidan Sayin, said with a chuckle. “He’s not going to give you much detail, but just be humble and to the point. We all had a good laugh. The ‘I prefer Julian’ line was hilarious, but that’s just him. We joke that his humor is similar to Larry David. We always watch ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’ and say he sort of emulates that same character.” Julian’s no-ego personality might be the opposite of what you’d expect from someone at the center of the college football universe. He tries to fly under the radar, and he never tells anybody who he is if they don’t already know. Fans loved the video, and plenty of them flooded the comment section. “The video itself encapsulates a lot about him,” Aidan said. “He’s not concerned with the spotlight. To be honest, he doesn’t even like it. Whenever we’re out and about in Columbus, he keeps his hat on, his head down, and just wants to get his açaí bowl.” For a few fleeting seconds, Julian Sayin was just another student, and that was exactly how he wanted it to be.
To understand Julian Sayin, you have to understand the household he came from. Julian is the baby of a family of high achievers, but the kind of achievement that never gets talked about at the dinner table. He’s the starting quarterback on the No. 1 team in the country and a front-runner to win the Heisman after finishing fourth last season, but he’s still striving to be as accomplished as his three older siblings. “I think he was always kind of scrappy and trying to follow along,” his mom, Karen Brandenburg, said. “I don’t know how to describe it — it’s kind of like, ‘Don’t think you’re all that.’” Julian’s eldest sister, Bailey, played soccer at the University of Chicago before attending the Cambridge School of Art in England. His sister Jocelyn attended the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, where she earned a degree in data analytics. After returning to the United States, Jocelyn took an interest in her youngest brother’s career, joining him on several college visits to LSU and Ole Miss. Now, alongside their mom, Jocelyn helps manage Julian’s NIL and marketing deals. She also earned a master’s degree in sports management from Ohio State and is pursuing her doctorate. Aidan played football at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with honors from Wharton, went on to play for the Columbus Aviators of the UFL, and is now considering continuing his football career in Japan or Europe. When asked whether the household she and her husband, Dan, created had influenced their children’s ambition, Brandenburg paused for a moment. She’s Type A; Dan is more laid back. Maybe, she thought, it started with Bailey, who from a young age was determined to play on the best soccer teams. That drive might have trickled down to the rest of the siblings. “I don’t know,” Brandenburg said. “But it always came from within. We didn’t have to push. We never had to say, ‘You’ve gotta go to practice.’ They just always sought after things on their own, which made parenting really easy. We’ve been really lucky that they push each other.” With success comes praise, and the Sayin kids aren’t particularly comfortable with compliments or being celebrated. When Jocelyn was finishing her master’s program, Brandenburg suggested they attend her graduation. Her daughter immediately pushed back: “No, no. When I get my doctorate, we’ll go to graduation.” Julian is much the same way. The only feedback he really wants to hear — positive or negative — comes from his coaches and teammates. Even an email from an Ohio State fan in Dayton simply wanting to tell Julian that he had played great didn’t feel right to him. There is something almost stubborn about his humility, a refusal to accept that he’s anything special, even when the whole world tells him otherwise.
That quiet, almost compulsive modesty has been with Julian for as long as anyone can remember, and it shows up in the smallest moments. Thadd MacNeal, who was both Julian and Aidan’s coach at Carlsbad High School outside of San Diego and is close with the Sayin family, was at Ohio State’s 38-14 win over Penn State last year and sat in on the post-game press conference. He remembers reporters asking Julian about his passing percentage — 87% on a near-perfect 20-of-23 passes — in addition to 316 yards and four touchdowns. “And he literally said, ‘Well, that’s because I have great protection, because my receivers catch every ball, and they’re so productive,’” MacNeal said. “It’s always deflecting to other people. That’s just how he operates.” When Julian won Elite 11, a premier high school quarterback competition, in June 2023, his mom wanted to take him out to dinner. He had beaten out Dylan Raiola, the top-rated quarterback recruit in the 2024 class at the time. But Julian declined. There was a tournament about thirty minutes away, and he wanted to go play in it instead. This story came up during one of Julian’s visits to Alabama, while he and his family were sitting in Nick Saban’s office. Julian had enrolled at Alabama early in January 2024, but on his first day of classes, Saban announced his retirement, prompting the quarterback to enter the transfer portal and head to Columbus. “Nick said, ‘Hey, I heard you won Elite 11,’” Brandenburg recalled. “And Julian’s like, ‘Yeah.’ And I said, ‘I tried to take him out to dinner and celebrate.’ Nick just looked at Julian, and Julian goes, ‘On to the next thing.’ And Nick Saban’s like, ‘Yeah, that’s one thing. On to the next.’” That attitude, Brandenburg said, is part of what makes Julian different. “I don’t know what made him that way,” she added. “But it’s good. It keeps us grounded, too. There’s always the next thing. I’m really trying to learn from him.” It’s a rare thing for a parent to say about their child, but in this family, the youngest is the one setting the example.
Those traits serve Julian well on the field, where he’s calm in big moments and doesn’t let the stage get too big. Last year, his first as a starter at Ohio State, Julian completed 77% of his passes and averaged 27.9 attempts per game, the best mark in the country. He threw for 3,610 yards with 32 touchdowns and eight interceptions, leading the Buckeyes to a 12-2 record and impressive wins over Texas and Michigan. They lost to eventual national champion Indiana in the Big Ten title game and to runners-up Miami in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal. The year before, Julian had played in four games as Will Howard’s backup, completing 5-of-12 passes with one touchdown on an Ohio State team that ultimately won the national championship. Those experiences have helped Julian grow and develop into an even better player. Transforming his body during the offseason, he came back stronger, more poised, and Ohio State coach Ryan Day said this summer at Big Ten Media Days that he was carrying himself with “a different look in his eye.” Buckeyes center Carson Hinzman has seen it too. “I mean, that dude can roll now,” Hinzman told reporters last month. “When he’s talking in the huddle, the confidence he has. Being able to zip that ball, you hear it literally whistle behind your ear, and it gives us confidence to have a quarterback who can go out there and have a little bit of swagger about him.” Julian has already picked up where he left off this season, completing 21-of-25 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns before coming out midway through the third quarter in Ohio State’s season-opening 56-3 romp of Ball State. He also scored his first rushing touchdown of his collegiate career on a fourth-and-goal to make it 21-0 early in the second quarter. But even in that moment, he didn’t celebrate with any dramatic flare. He just handed the ball to the official and jogged back to the sideline, as if he’d done it a hundred times before. “He seems even more relaxed and confident this year,” Brandenburg said. “He’s very calm and locked in.” There is no contradiction between his humility and his intensity; the humility is part of the intensity牵挂. He doesn’t waste energy on ego, so all of it goes into preparation.
He’ll need that level head as he enters his second season as a starter at Ohio State, where a talent-laden roster is chasing its second national championship in three years. The top-ranked Buckeyes have a challenging schedule ahead, with their first major test coming Saturday when they visit Arch Manning and No. 4 Texas in one of the biggest games on the Week 2 slate. The game has been hyped for months, with Manning’s enormous name and Julian’s Heisman candidacy creating a natural storyline. But Julian doesn’t see it that way. To him, it’s just the next game, the next opportunity, the next thing. His calmness in the face of pressure is almost unnatural. He doesn’t feed on external validation or get rattled by outside noise. When he was in the transfer portal after Saban’s retirement, he didn’t panic; he methodically found his new home and went to work. When he won the starting job at Ohio State, he didn’t exult; he just kept preparing. The same personality that makes him deflect praise in press conferences is what allows him to walk into a stadium with a hundred thousand screaming fans and see the field with total clarity. He doesn’t play for the moment; he plays for the process. That’s not to say he lacks confidence. On the contrary, his confidence is rooted in something deeper than bravado. He trusts his preparation, his teammates, and his own ability to execute. He just doesn’t see any need to talk about it. The Texas game will be a defining moment in the season, a chance for Ohio State to make an early statement. But whether Julian throws for 400 yards or has an off night, his reaction will be the same. He’ll review the film, take the lessons, and move on. There is no dwelling in Julian Sayin’s world, no looking back, no thinking about how far he’s come. There is only the next play, the next drive, the next game.
Maybe that’s what makes him so easy to root for. In a sport filled with self-promotion and manufactured brands, Julian Sayin is genuinely uninterested in the spotlight. He doesn’t care about being the star quarterback, at least not in the way that phrase is usually understood. He cares about playing football, about being a good teammate, about improving every week. His older brother Aidan put it best: “I think sometimes bravado or being the star quarterback works, too. But for the most part, teammates want to see someone who is about the team and isn’t all about themselves. He’s just about playing football. He doesn’t care what else goes along with it. He just wants to play football and do his best this week.” That sentiment is at the heart of everything Julian does. It’s why he introduced himself as just Julian in that class, why he declined the celebration dinner after winning Elite 11, why he deflects credit to his receivers and offensive line, why he keeps his hat pulled low when he goes out for an açaí bowl. In a world that constantly tells young athletes to build their brands and seize their moments, Julian Sayin has chosen a different path. He lets his play speak for itself, and he lets his family keep him grounded. His mom says she’s trying to learn from him, and plenty of others could probably do the same. “It always came from within,” she said. “Don’t think you’re all that.” That’s not a lesson you usually learn from a Heisman candidate. But then again, Julian Sayin isn’t usual. He’s the starting quarterback at Ohio State, a national championship contender, a man with the world at his feet and a game against Texas looming. And the most remarkable thing about him is that he’d rather talk about pickleball.
