When Jeremy Birmingham announced his departure from the Ohio State Rivals website in April, the reasoning seemed pretty academic.
After it all, it was less than three years ago that the longtime recruiting insider was engaged in a lawsuit with On3 founder Shannon Terry, who purchased Rivals while forging a partnership with Yahoo Sports this past spring.
As the old cliché goes, however, time heals all wounds. Nevertheless, many Ohio State diehards were still surprised to see Birmingham announce on Wednesday that he is returning to the On3/Rivals’ Buckeyes website, Lettermen Row, less than three years after the lawsuit regarding his noncompete agreement following his initial exit from On3 was settled with both parties agreeing to drop the suit.
In a column posted to the Lettermen Row website, Birmingham — who worked at the independent Ohio State website Buckeye Huddle in the time since his April departure from Rivals — addressed the unique nature of his return.
“There was a public legal battle and everyone is aware of that. There’s been no shortage of Why would you go back to a place that sued him before comments from my family and friends. I get it. It’s a fair question,” Birmingham wrote. “But time and change have provided a pretty great deal of perspective.
“Lettermen Row was my home and I wanted to protect it and was willing to fight for it. Shannon Terry and [On3 president] Will Crall were trying to do the same thing to try and protect On3 at that time. I get that, too. The public-facing side of that dispute is what it is. But privately there’ve been a number of great conversations with both Shannon and Will over the last three years. Those talks, including sincere apologies and an open door for a return whenever I was ready, provided me great confidence in where things are going. There’s a maturity and stability in the business of On3.”
NEW: Veteran Ohio State reporter Jeremy Birmingham (@Birm) has rejoined Lettermen Row🌰
Birm teams up with @AWardSports, @SpencerHolbrook, @alexgleitman, and @mickdwalker to form the No. 1 Buckeye fan site. https://t.co/KCOSimt0KU pic.twitter.com/SdKPlC3uXg
— On3 (@On3sports) July 16, 2025
Birmingham also noted on X that “the last five months have been as professionally — and personally — exhausting as any five-month stretch in my life,” some of which has undoubtedly stemmed from his involvement in another lawsuit with a former employer, THE Media. But while that legal matter remains ongoing, it hasn’t stopped him from returning to a new — and former — employer on an Ohio State beat that’s never short on news, whether it’s about the Buckeyes or the beat itself.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.