There will be plenty of suitors for Devin Brown in the transfer portal should he leave Ohio State.
Although now is not the time to up and leave Columbus just yet, promising college quarterback Devin Brown does need to think about his football future, and if that will be at Ohio State.
With Ryan Day naming Kyle McCord the Week 1 starter vs. Indiana, Brown will serve as the backup in his second full season at Ohio State. He was a four-star prospect in the 2022 class out of Draper, Utah. Brown had 16 official offers, including ones to Ole Miss, Texas and USC, in addition to Ohio State. While he could stick around and see what happens with McCord, Brown might need to leave.
Here are three programs that would make a ton of sense to add Brown in the portal this winter.
Ohio State football: 3 transfer destinations for Devin Brown
3. Oklahoma Sooners' OC Jeff Lebby recruited Devin Brown at Ole Miss
Although he wasn't recruited by Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma, Brown's primary recruiter to Ole Miss was Sooners offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby. The Rebels were one of three places where he visited, along with Texas and obviously, Ohio State. While he wasn't exactly recruited by Sooners head coach Brent Venables' former employer either, the former Clemson coordinator does know how to recruit.
It remains to be seen if Venables will deviate from his mentor Dabo Swinney in Norman. Swinney is about as reluctant as they come across college football when it comes to dabbling in the transfer portal. Sure, Oklahoma recruits itself, but it is not like Venables has any wiggle room heading into this season. He is coming off his first year on the job where it reminded everyone of the late John Blake.
Despite the Sooners having a ton of interest in true freshman Jackson Arnold, we have no idea if he is ready for the bright lights of SEC football. Truth be told, Brown may not be either. However, given how close he was towards beating out the heavily favored McCord for the starting job at Ohio State, it leads me to believe Brown could be a difference maker playing for Lebby and Venables at Oklahoma.
Frankly, the biggest name to watch Brown potentially follow here is not Venables, but rather Lebby.
2. Purdue Boilermakers now have Graham Harrell as their new OC
As with Jeff Lebby at Oklahoma, another big offensive coordinator name to keep an eye on regarding Devin Brown transferring to is Graham Harrell at Purdue. Harrell first got connected with Brown when he was the offensive coordinator for Clay Helton at USC. He spent last season not winning games for Neal Brown at West Virginia. Now Harrell works for first-time head coach Ryan Walters over at Purdue.
Depending on how long Hudson Card wants to stay in West Lafayette, Purdue looks to be a pretty good landing spot for a promising quarterback like Brown. Albeit under a different regime, we have seen pro-caliber passers come out of West Lafayette fairly recently, whether that be David Blough or Aidan O'Connell. Card could be next, and Brown could follow. This all hinges on Harrell at coordinator.
While I anticipate that Purdue will pull back a bit with Walters taking over for the highly successful Jeff Brohm, I do think pairing a strong offensive coordinator with a defensive-minded coach in Walters is not the worst idea in the world. Although Purdue is at its best with an innovative offensive-minded coach, I think this coaching combination affords them a chance to have staying power in the Big Ten.
There are other Big Ten transfer destinations for Brown, but Purdue seems to make a tad more sense.
1. Ole Miss Rebels hit the portal so hard under head coach Lane Kiffin
We still have a few years before we do any sort of transfer portal coronation, but nobody has wanted the right to the throne than Lane Kiffin. King Lane Train has found the portal to be an effectively usual tactic in amassing talent at a good, but not great football school like Ole Miss. He has already landed the likes of Jaxson Dart, Walker Howard and Spencer Sanders out of the portal. So why not Brown???
Brown's primary recruiter to Ole Miss was Jeff Lebby. Obviously, he left Ole Miss to take on a similar role at his alma mater in Norman. Again, Lebby is the name to keep an eye on when it comes to Brown, but clearly, Kiffin liked what Brown was about coming out of high school. Once again, Ole Miss is one of three schools Brown made official visits to before committing to Ohio State back on Dec. 1, 2021.
To me, I have a hard time seeing Brown go anywhere outside of the expanded Big Ten or SEC footprint. To be that close to winning the job at Ohio State probably indicates Brown could, and probably would, be starting at many other schools of note. For now, he must be patient, see what this season unfolds and go from there. If McCord takes over, then maybe Brown goes to Ole Miss in a bit?
The quarterback room may be unsettled in Oxford, but Brown is certainly a player Kiffin is fond of.
