Ohio State Has the Attention of Rising Star QB Champ Monds

VERO BEACH, Fla. — Ohio State has become very familiar with the Vero Beach (FL) football program and the Buckeyes have already identified their next target in big-time class of 2028 quarterback Wonderful ‘Champ’ Monds IV.

Monds has the athletic bloodlines with a father who played Major League Baseball and a grandfather who played in the NFL and now, after an impressive freshman season, Monds is becoming a national recruit on the gridiron.

“It has really been a blessing,” Monds told BuckeyeHuddle.com this week on Southern Swing. “(Vero Beach head coach Lenny Jankowski) has done a great job getting college coaches in to see me. Of course I’ve put in a lot of hard work, but it’s really just a blessing.”

Monds has already picked up approximately 20 scholarship offers, including one from Ohio State. Buckeye head coach Ryan Day stopped in to see Monds, and class of 2026 teammate Champ Smith, back during the winter.

“They just won the national championship, so that’s super cool,” Monds explained. “Ryan Day, he’s a great guy and a good coach so it was super cool to see him down at Vero Beach High School.”

Like many high school players, Monds was able to watch the Ohio State run to the national championship and was impressed by the quality of football the Buckeyes played.

“I watched most of the games, and it was a great run,” Monds recalled. “Everyone was playing good, both defense and offense, so it was really good.”

The Buckeyes have had a good run at quarterback under Ryan Day and that isn’t lost on Monds either.

“The main guy that I’ve watched from Ohio State is C.J. Stroud,” Monds explained. “I used to watch him whenever he would play on Saturday. I still watch his tape to this day, even his tape with the Texans now.”

During the spring, Monds was able to make his first visit to Ohio State and the Buckeyes made a strong first impression.

“Columbus is a great spot,” he said. “Of course the facilities were great. All of the coaches, players, staff members were super nice. I got to talk to a couple people and all of them were really humble. It was just really great.”

Hear more from Monds on his visit to Ohio State, his relationship with Buckeye freshman linebacker T.J. Alford, and more on this one-on-one interview from our Southern Swing recruiting tour.