Justin Fields appears to be settling in fairly quickly in his new surroundings in Columbus, Ohio. Fields took to Twitter Friday night to confirm his decision to leave Georgia for Ohio State, and on Saturday he took in a men’s basketball game with Dwayne Haskins and Urban Meyer.
Meyer, who coached his final game for the Buckeyes earlier this week with a victory in the Rose Bowl just hours before Fields’ former team lost in the Sugar Bowl, was being honored at the Ohio State men’s basketball game against Michigan State. And although Meyer will no longer be the head coach of Ohio State (Ryan Day is now officially the head coach of the program) Meyer still has some influence in Columbus as he takes on a new role with the university and athletics department. That role is still being ironed out, but it stands to reason Meyer can have some pull with the football recruiting process when needed.
Urban Meyer, Justin Fields and Dwayne Haskins. pic.twitter.com/SjPqLih9In
— Colin Hass-Hill (@chasshill) January 5, 2019
Fields shared a statement on Twitter Friday night confirming what had been reported rather thoroughly throughout the week when he explained he had decided to transfer to Ohio State. He thanked Georgia head coach Kirby Smart for the opportunity to come to Georgia and be a part of the program. However, the quick departure of one of the top recruits from the state of Georgia in the entire Class of 2018 after just one year, and to lose that player to a Big Ten program, should raise some questions about Smart on the recruiting trail moving forward.
It still remains to be seen when Fields will be eligible to play for Ohio State. The normal transfer policy means Fields should not be eligible for the Buckeyes until 2020, although he seems to think he has a chance to be ruled eligible immediately. We’ll see. In the meantime, Tate Martell is expected to be the next quarterback in line if Dwayne Haskins chooses to leave Ohio State for the NFL. That decision, however, has not been made just yet, which means the quarterback situation in Columbus is pretty interesting right now.