Now it’s officially official.
Very early Wednesday morning, Martell took to Twitter to announce that he has decided to transfer to Miami. Two days later, his new school confirmed through the same social-media service the Ohio State transfer quarterback’s arrival.
The move comes a week and a day after reports first surfaced that Martell’s name was in the NCAA transfer database.
Official: The Miami Martell has arrived. pic.twitter.com/231IG5foqH
— Miami Hurricanes Football (@CanesFootball) January 18, 2019
Martell has retained a lawyer and will be seeking a waiver that would grant him immediate eligibility. That attorney, Travis Leach out of Arizona, confirmed to the Toledo Blade earlier this week that the coaching change at OSU will be a part of his “throw it against the wall and see what sticks” strategy.
“That definitely is part of it,” Leach told the Blade when asked about the turnover at Martell’s former school. “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.”
If the redshirt freshman Martell wins the appeal for a waiver, he would eligible to play in 2019 and would compete with N’Kosi Perry, the returning favorite, and Jarren Williams, among others, for the starting job. If he loses the appeal, he would have two years of eligibility beginning in 2020 that he can use.
Martell was a four-star member of OSU’s 2017 recruiting class, rated as the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the country. After redshirting as a true freshman, Martell threw for 269 yards and a touchdown on 23-of-28 passing this past season while also running for another 128 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.