Why Lincoln Kienholz picked Buckeyes
Lincoln Kienholz was always a quarterback. It didn’t matter what sport he played.
He had the eyes of a quarterback on the basketball court, seeing open windows and dishing passes to open teammates. It was the same thing at shortstop during baseball season, using his range, quickness and strength to make throws to consistently beat runners.
Steve Steele always saw Kienholz as a quarterback who could play Division 1 baseball, Division 1 basketball or even run Division 1 track if he wanted to.
But Riggs High School’s football coach’s lens of Kienholz never changed. He was always the Governors’ next great quarterback.
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“That’s a kid that you need to have playing,” Steele said. “You can’t afford to not have that kid play football for you.”
Kienholz did everything for Riggs football in Pierre, South Dakota, continuing a streak of six straight state titles as a three-year starting quarterback, emerging as a do-it-all ringleader that college football programs couldn’t take their eyes off of.
And while Kienholz’s path was set, coming into his final high school season committed to Washington, Ohio State football swooped in and gave the South Dakota native the chance to show what he could do on one of the biggest stages possible.
A chance was all Kienholz wanted, to be the next in line and learn from the best. A chance is why Kienholz became the Buckeyes’ quarterback in the 2023 class.
“Especially for an 18-year-old, just to picture it right now,” Kienholz said, “it’s really cool.”
How Lincoln Kienholz became an Ohio State target
Kienholz views himself as a combination of the quarterbacks he likes to watch.
Whether it was Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud or Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, Kienholz said he watched YouTube clips of both quarterbacks and took things to emulate on the football field
“(Young’s) a really good athlete that can make throws on the run,” Kienholz said. “He can make plays with his feet too. I think that’s a really good one to watch.”
As a freshman at Riggs, Kienholz watched Garrett Stout, the 2019 South Dakota Gatorade Player of the Year who averaged more than 330 all-purpose yards per game with 61 touchdowns in 12 games as a senior.
After watching Kienholz learn to love the schemes and strategy of the offense as a freshman, Steele gave him Stout’s job as a sophomore, knowing he had a “good” quarterback on his hands, but not knowing what Kienholz would become.