Safety Brendon White has entered his name in the NCAA Transfer Portal.
The-Ozone has confirmed that the junior from Powell, Ohio is now in the portal.
White was a backup to start the 2018 season, but emerged as a standout safety in the middle of that season.
He first got a chance for significant playing time when Jordan Fuller was ejected for targeting against Nebraska. He recorded a career-high 13 tackles in that game.
From there, he seized a regular role, and was named the Defensive MVP in the 2019 Rose Bowl.
He finished the season with 46 tackles, including four tackles-for-loss, two pass break-ups, and an interception.
This year, White was projected to fill the new “Bullet” position in the Buckeyes’ revamped defensive scheme.
However, he never managed to get on the field regularly.
SAM linebacker Pete Werner put together a strong season and took a lot of the snaps that were projected to go to White.
White played just three snaps in the regular season finale against Michigan, and then did not make the trip to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship Game.
OSU head coach Ryan Day said Sunday that White did not travel for “personal reasons.”
White was recruited as an athlete and never really found a permanent home. He started his OSU career as a linebacker, before moving to wide receiver, and then back to safety, and finally the Bullet position.
The son of former OSU safety William White, the Whites became the second father-son duo in OSU history to start a Rose Bowl game.
Howard and Craig Cassady were the others.
It’s now cemented in history! The 2019 #RoseBowl Game plaque has been installed at the @RoseBowlStadium Court of Champions! @OhioStateFB @UW_Football pic.twitter.com/4qGcN9sZcW
— Rose Bowl Game (@rosebowlgame) March 1, 2019
But just as White’s Buckeye career took a meteoric rise from backup to Rose Bowl MVP in the span of two months, he quickly fell off the map this fall.
He is the second starting safety from the 2018 team to transfer this fall, following Isaiah Pryor, who is headed to Notre Dame.
White is a true junior, and will have one year of eligibility remaining at the school to which he transfers.
There is no official word yet on whether he will play in the Fiesta Bowl.
I can’t believe all the unemployed coaches we have on this site. I hate to see Brendon go but obviously he did not hit it off with the new coaches and I don’t blame him at all. This is going to be the new normal with the new portal rules.
Well I don’t want anyone to go, or leave the program , BW maybe good , but anyone on this site saying that the coaches don’t put the best on the field
may be— “crazy” …couse that is just nuts-o- . Now I agree #32 & # 20, play the run, very, very, very good, and both are questions on pass D. #20 is much better on Pass D this year verse LY…#32 Just cant play Pass D at a high level, against a good QB. But blame game on the coaching staff is bush.
Roger I agree that White doesnt belong in the lineup but no, #20 and # 32 do not play the run very very good. Most times there is a long run just watch, one of those 2 or both were the problem and believe me it will show up against that running back from Clemson. Watch Taylors long run before halftime and tell me how good #20 plays the run.
Well first of all, i had been wondering for some time where Brendon White was. He was a bright spot last season, when he was in the game running around from point A to point B and making tackles and covering more than most of the defense was doing in games. I really thought he would be the starting “bullet” this season, but i never seen him in a game, and i wondered why. I agree that at times Warner and Boreland are not the best at their position, and at times look slow at foot. One thing the Buckeyes defense hasn’t seen this season is a quarterback like Clemson is going to throw at them with very good receivers and a talented running back. Unless there is something we are not seeing, if as a coach you are going to find a way to get the most talented players on the field, i can’t see why Brendon has not been playing.Speed kills, and the Bucks are going to need all they can summon up against Clemson.
Next stop…Boston College???
I have never seen Pete Werner as a “good” football player. Urban and his buddy Bill Davis were enamored with him and it appears the new D coaches are as well. However I do not see Baron Browning as a solid LB either. He is too erratic and out of control. Ask Zach Boren and Chris Spielman whet they think of Tuf Borland. He is the prototypical Mike LB. he is smart, tough, reads the offense ten times better than Browning or Mitchell. Mike LB’s aren’t supposed to run the forty in 4.5. Hell I doubt that Browning does that. If you have never played the position, then “Shut The Hell Up”.!! None of you knows shit about the position. Was Boren or Spiels or Schlegel fast he’ll know. They knew how to read.
So you know it alls, like Petrociv, shut the hell up and support the Buckeyes. The reason Clemson “seems unstoppable” is Dumbo and his boys have yet to play anyone worth a damn.!!
Here’s hoping Tommy Eichenberg is on a crash course to play the Mike after Tuf graduates cause we are are screwed with Browning or Mitchell in the middle.
Jack Spielman played when the whole game was slower so that is irrelevant and Boren ans Schlegel werent that good so quit telling people to shut up and think before you post
Schlegel was a captain at Air Force as a sophomore before transferring to play here. Dude tackles and spits the throats of wild boar for fun. And all Zach Boren did was move from a very nuanced Offensive SKILL position, to an extremely technical and impossibly nuanced MLB position, MID-frickin-season. AND immediately became the best LB on the entire team. Overnight. Just saying
Slits. I meant to say “slits”, not “spits”. Although, have you seen the guy lately? He could spit in their throats too… I’m not gonna tell him he can’t.
“Never enamored of Werner”… The guy did lock down future NFL Tight Ends against Penn State and Michigan…
These other guys on Borland and his pass coverage… it’s true he doesn’t have the wheels, but as you correctly point out, that position is all about diagnosing the play quickly and being in position to make the play. Who was it that laid that first lick on Bell, Legally and with correct technique, I might add, that rang his bell (pun intended) and started all the TTUN receivers getting happy feet and shaky hands? Umm that’d be Tuf Borland. And I do actually think Baron Browning runs sub 4.5 or close enough to it. And Malik Harrison is the real deal. Don’t get me wrong, I think Brannon White is a very good player, but Shawn Wade and Jordan Fuller had as much to do with him losing playing time as Pete Werner did. That and most the teams we faced not playing gimmicky spread options or fun-n-guns.
Fuller is leaving so why would White leave. He seems like a natural to take over from Fuller. There must be something more going on.
Willy B — White no longer plays a deep safety spot. Josh Proctor has been the backup and has played safety. He is the guy next year.
I think many of you are underestimating the ability of Coach Day and his staff to evaluate talent and coach players. They aren’t idiots. They are at practices, team meetings and the weight room. Obviously there is something going and coaches are not going to talk about it out of respect to the player. If he has the talent, work ethic, ability to learn complex schemes and desire to play – he would. These players are kids. Sometimes they make choices or have issues that keep them from being successful. We will never know unless he tell us so we should just wish him well and move on.
O-H!
I-O!
Pretty sure most here saw this coming from the middle of the year – I know I did. Very sad thing and I don’t pretend to know details but best to Brendon wherever he lands.
Christopher is right. Playing Werner over White is a baffling move, especially against speed-teams (PSU, Clemson, etc.), as opposed to hulk teams (Wisky etc.). We are going to shake our heads at the play of Werner and Tuf more than once during this game. White will be sitting at home, watching the carnage, and wondering why in the world he is not out there covering those speedsters. Oh well, time to take a big gulp and scarf down our medicine. Our only chance is to get to the QB before he can make his throws.
Douglas — White was on the field last year when the Buckeyes gave up 31 points to Nebraska, 51 to Maryland, and 39 to Michigan.
Tony, so was Chase Young, etc., etc., etc. That doesn’t tell us anything about the defenders that were “terrible” last year and “great” this year. Instead, it tells us about the entire defensive scheme and the coaching philosophy.
Tony, great point. He makes more mistakes than anybody on the team and cant be trusted by the coaches because of the position he plays.
Locked down “Speed Team” future NFL TE against Penn State. Did it again, this time with possibly two future NFL TE’s the 2nd half against TTUN. And not only did they choose to use Werner over White in both those instances, they chose the LB over the DB the past half season, first with a banged up Damon Arnette, then with a banged up Shawn Wade and then with a banged up Jeff Okudah. All DB’s. When they needed DB help, they looked to the LB and not the DB. That’s gotta be more than telling.
Beginning of the season Coach Mattison stated that there isn’t a player on the team that plays their position better than Pete Werner or Borland. That was the wrong message to kids whom hoping that the playing field is equal. I just hope coach Day pull him to the side and told him that was a unacceptable message. Good luck Brendon if you decide to leave, your Rose Bowl performance was spectacular.
Sounds to me like it was self inflicted so talking about how he could help is a waste of time.
Self inflicted? Not sure where you are gathering that from…seems you are presuming a lot. “Personal Reasons” could be any number of legitimate things (and I for one think being tired of a scheme that is so hell bent on not playing you that they would rather see Werner at single high safety at times is very legit – to play a LB out of position when you have a guy that has proven himself to be a good safety is odd to say the least)
This is the price an elite team like OSU must pay when it has so many top athletes on the squad, non-starters champing at the bit to get on the field. Hate to lose a talented player like White, especially a Buckeye legacy. Nonetheless, we 1) don’t know what’s been going on behind the scenes, and 2) as was the case with Joe Burrow, sometimes it’s in everyone’s best interests for a player to move on and get an opportunity when it didn’t look at all like a sure thing where he was with the Bucks.
Best wishes to Brendon White for his future, and many thanks for his stellar play the second half of the 2018 season!
You know Joe did not leave in the middle of the season or when you are preparing for National Championship Games. I honestly can not believe this but I am old so I guess this is now the way of America. If you hit a wall don’t push through just yell Beam me up NCAA and enter the portal and you are instantly transferred and all of your problems and issues are solved.
When I was young we spelled it Gray and now its Grey and we spelled it Brazil and now they spell it Brasil and I guess you now spell Team with an I, GO Teim.
Brasil has always been Brasil in Brasil!
Every time I see any variation of “ain’t no I in T-E-A-M, I always think back to that old commercial, “ain’t no “we” either”…
Safety Brendon White and Safety Isaiah Pryor must have been beat out by players that are better or that have a better grasp of the defense. I don’t by the logic that the best player are not on the field.
I missed seeing Brendon every game this year. Maybe he didn’t practice as well as Werner, but he was a gamer capable of 1st team Big Ten. Brendon was also great against the run. Werner was getting caught up in the wrong gap after coming too close to the line of scrimmage when we were playing better competition recently. The way the coaches talked up Brendon for the bullet position misled Brendon. Even OSU reporters didn’t hardly bring up his lack of playing time for some reason.
I missed seeing Brendon every game this year. Maybe he didn’t practice as well as Werner, but he was a gamer capable of 1st team Big Ten. Werner was targeted with other team’s Tight Ends for a reason. I never saw Brendon get in to even try to guard the Tight Ends while they were burning Werner. Brendon was also great against the run. Werner was getting caught up in the wrong gap after coming too close to the line of scrimage when we were playing better competition recently. The way the coaches talked up Brendon for the bullet position misled Brendon. Even Ozone & Lettermens Row didn’t hardly bring this up for some reason.
Simply inexplicable. Bigger loss than most realize…and though we have masked some things and gotten away with some guys this year, this situation may begin to rear its head on the 28th. Line Werner up out wide on an island man to man with Clemson’s TE/H and that is likely a 6 point play. Moreover, whatever defense that is where we rotate Werner to single high safety when the offense sends a guy in motion is another scheme that could cost you 6 more points against Clemson. This is no knock on Pete…but it’s simply inexplicable to have wasted a talent if Whites caliber. And Lord knows we will miss him next year.
Its not a loss at all. He couldnt understand the defense and was always caught out of position. If he wants to play he should go to a MAC school. Never liked him as a player. When MSU threw a double pass and he was 40 yards away from his man.
Next time we go to the Rose Bowl you should buy a ticket and go to the game…or at least watch it on TV.