COLUMBUS — The retirement of head coach Urban Meyer and the ensuing staff turnover at Ohio State was a major factor in Tate Martell’s decision to transfer to the University of Miami, according to Martell’s attorney Travis Leach.
Martell, a former five-star recruit, announced his transfer destination Wednesday and will request a waiver from the NCAA for immediate eligibility.
“That definitely is part of it,” Leach told The Blade when asked about the coaching staff. “You try to throw as much against the wall as you can. I think the fact that there were some circumstances that happened, some personality clashes at the school — we want to be fair to everyone involved. That’s the approach we’re going to go down.”
Leach, who is based in Phoenix, specializes in sports cases. Information is being gathered to present a compelling case for Martell’s immediate eligibility. A waiver request will be filed with the NCAA in the near future.
When Martell committed to Ohio State in June, 2016, Meyer was the head coach and Tim Beck and Ed Warinner shared offensive coordinator duties. By the time Martell enrolled in January, 2017, Beck and Warinner were out and Ryan Day was in. Martell redshirted in 2017 and played sparingly in 2018, backing up Heisman Trophy finalist Dwayne Haskins.
The NCAA has been harshly criticized in recent years for coaches having the means to freely change jobs, while players are left to the whims of the NCAA and its strict transfer rules.
“You try and align the facts as best you can,” Leach said. “Each one of these cases is a little bit different. You look at what are the reasons for the transfer, what happened, why didn’t it work, and then can you take those reasons and does it meet the NCAA’s requirements for a waiver? I think we have a couple opportunities.
“There were some things that happened at Ohio State that we can potentially get some relief from the NCAA, and we’re going to try it that way. The coaching staff turnover is an issue. There are a few things. There’s no real bright-line test that tells you 100 percent how you can get a waiver. This is a tough one, but there are some good facts on his side.”
Martell, who will be a redshirt sophomore in 2019, completed 23 of 28 passes for 269 yards, one touchdown, and zero interceptions last season. He was a perfect 10-of-10 for 121 yards and a touchdown against Rutgers, establishing a program record for single-game completion percentage. But all that production came in the season’s first four games. Martell didn’t attempt another pass the rest of the year, acting more as a short-yardage quarterback in the red zone.
Martell rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries, an average of 5.8 yards per carry. His skill set as a dual-threat quarterback, with polarizing opinions about his ability to throw accurately, is more aligned with what Meyer wanted in a quarterback than Day. The addition of quarterback Justin Fields, however, appears to outweigh any coaching changes in Martell’s decision making.
Fields, the No. 2 overall recruit in 2018, transferred to Ohio State from Georgia 10 days before Martell’s departure. Fields is also petitioning the NCAA for immediate eligibility, and he’s expected to win his case. In an impassioned 20-minute question-and-answer session at the Rose Bowl, Martell guaranteed he would be Ohio State’s starter next season.
“Why would I leave for somebody that hasn’t put a single second into this program yet?” he said. “I’ve put two years of literally working my ass off into something I’ve been working for and a dream I’ve had my whole life.
“To just run away from somebody that hasn’t even put a single second into winter workouts and doesn’t know what the program is all about, there’s not a chance.”
Martell’s future at Ohio State was questioned throughout his two-year stint in Columbus, with rampant speculation about a possible transfer. Sources told The Blade that Martell reported one day late to fall camp in July and was talked out of transferring by Meyer and Day.
Nearly six months later, Meyer is gone and Martell, in the wilderness, is searching for his rosy ending.
“If the NCAA is really looking to do what’s in the best interest of the kids, I feel pretty comfortable with a waiver — if you look at it purely through that lens,” Leach said. “We have good facts, but we want to do it the right way. We want it to be fair to everybody. It’s just a situation that didn’t work out. We don’t want to be negative.”
First Published January 18, 2019, 1:10 a.m.
