'Best hire we could have made': Will Howard thrilled with Ohio State's hire of Chip Kelly

Will Howard grew up in Downingtown, Pennsylania, as a Philadelphia Eagles fan.

So when Chip Kelly was hired as Ohio State's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach following the departure of Bill O'Brien to Boston College, Howard was particularly excited. Kelly was the Eagles' head coach from 2013-15 when Howard was an adolescent.

“I'm getting to work with someone who coached my team growing up,” Howard said Monday on the eve of the start of Ohio State's spring practice.

Howard is the front-runner to be the Buckeyes' starting quarterback after his transfer from Kansas State. His relationship with Kelly, who stepped down as UCLA's head coach to work with former protege Ryan Day, will be crucial.

So far, so good.

“Coach O'Brien did what he had to do, and I think coach Kelly is the best hire we could have made,” Howard said.

He said Kelly called him the day he was hired.

“His schemes are really quarterback-friendly,” Howard said. “It's how can we get as many yards as possible without any strain.”

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Howard said he and Kelly have clicked.

“He's super-down to earth and easy to talk to,” he said. “I think that's one of the most important things that I've realized in my time as a quarterback. We spend so much time with our offensive coordinator/quarterback coach.

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“It's so important to have that relationship. If you don't, then things can go sideways, and I've experienced that. I think the best thing about him is that he's just a normal guy. He's obviously very smart and football-savvy, but what comes first is relating to us and hanging out with us, and that's big.”

Howard said he is trying his best to be the same way with his new teammates. Howard has a naturally outgoing, engaging personality, and he has made a point of forming bonds with his new teammates. He even took some to a rodeo at Nationwide Arena recently.

“I feel like one of the biggest things for me is relationships because people aren't going to respect you and they're not going to listen to you if they don't know you," Howard said. "They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. That's what I've been trying to focus on my first couple of months here.”

Senior wide receiver Emeka Egbuka said he already has been impressed by Howard.

"He's a funny dude, a very likable guy," Egbuka said. "We hit it off instantly."

Emeka said he has caught passes from Howard in some informal player-organized drills.

"I feel he's a phenomenal talent, a really smart quarterback," he said.

Howard has been trying to do things like that to replicate some of what the Buckeyes will do in spring practice.

"I know it's going to be a big learning curve in the spring," Howard said. " I've played football at a high level. But just being comfortable with how we call things and how we read things and how coach Kelly and coach (Ryan) Day teach things − I think this spring will be big for me just to become more familiar with the system."

But he said he's not going to be tentative. He didn't come to Ohio State to be nervous or timid.

"I might not be all perfect," Howard said. "I might make a few mistakes, but that's how I'm going to learn and how we're going to learn as a team. Nothing's too big for me. Nothing's too big for this team."

Howard is one of several high-profile transfer additions to a Buckeye team that retained most of its key underclassmen. Expectations are always high at Ohio State. They might be as high as ever this year, especially considering the Buckeyes' three straight losses to Michigan and the Wolverines winning the national championship.

"We embrace it every day," Howard said. "We know how much is on the line. We know what we've already given to this season and how much we've invested in this team. I think we had a really good winter. The guys were bought in. The leadership we have, the amount of guys that decided to come back and decided to come to this program, it's exciting.

"We're chasing that 1% (improvement) every single day. We know that our main goal is to win and to win all of them. That's the bottom line."

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: What new Ohio State QB Will Howard said about coach Chip Kelly