Ohio State transfer safety Caleb Downs is going to fit in perfectly in the Buckeyes locker room after the convinced him to come to Columbus instead of Athens, Georgia at the 11th hour.
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00:00 And I think Caleb Downs is the kind of player, too,
00:02 that he is so good in even such a short time,
00:10 as truly a one-year college player.
00:13 He's the kind of guy that when you bring in the portal
00:16 and you put together whatever the NIL package was for him,
00:21 I personally don't think it's going to disrupt chemistry
00:23 in the locker room.
00:25 Because it's a guy who was so heavily recruited by Ohio State
00:29 the first time around, he's got relationships
00:32 with the second-year rising players anyways.
00:36 So the Luke Montgomery's of the world,
00:38 who are such an integral part of that class,
00:42 there are several guys you could probably lump in there.
00:45 I just think of Luke, he comes to mind right away for me.
00:49 You are bringing in a guy who nobody's
00:51 going to question his ability, made 107 tackles for Alabama
00:55 and won National Freshman of the Year.
00:57 He's going to slide right into a position
00:59 that you need to fill, because Josh Proctor is
01:01 gone because of graduation.
01:04 I just look at this and be like, OK, this
01:07 is the new age of college football.
01:09 It is the, gosh, we really hope we get you to commit here
01:14 as a high school player.
01:16 But if we don't, we're not going to just dump the relationship.
01:20 Because we like you a lot, and who
01:23 knows what's going to happen as you move forward.
01:27 Any sort of thing could happen, coaching changes,
01:31 not happy, too much playing time for the guys in front of you,
01:34 whatever it might be.
01:35 If somebody wants to jump in the portal,
01:36 you've got that base already there.
01:38 And I think Ohio State is finding
01:41 this is working the way that they want it to work now.
01:44 Yeah, it's funny.
01:45 On a so much smaller level, I used
01:47 to experience this when I was playing at a Division III
01:50 level.
01:50 Because the rule was, when I played,
01:52 you could transfer down divisions and play right away.
01:57 So that was a big thing.
01:58 It was like, hey, not only would our coaches recruit guys,
02:02 and hey, come with us, but it would be an extended recruiting.
02:05 Like, hey, you're keeping in touch with them,
02:07 making sure that they still have your phone number and whatnot.
02:10 So it's like, I've experienced a lot of this.
02:12 Because a lot of times, whatever the situation is,
02:15 coaching change, player playing time,
02:18 you stay in touch with these guys,
02:19 and then they come back to you when the time is right.
02:21 But to your earlier point, Amant,
02:24 you were saying about this being a good locker room fit,
02:26 I think you hit the nail right on the head.
02:28 It's like, sometimes it could ruffle a couple feathers
02:31 if you get a transfer in who's highly touted, who's not
02:34 proved it yet.
02:35 Like a guy who is a freshman, it didn't work out or whatever.
02:39 And they come in like, hey, this guy was the number one recruit
02:42 last year.
02:43 In this situation, you're like, Caleb Downs
02:45 was the leading tackler on the Alabama Crimson Tide.
02:47 It's like, he's proven it.
02:49 And if anybody's got a problem with him coming
02:51 into the locker room, it's problem's not on Caleb Downs,
02:53 it's on that guy.
02:54 You know what I mean?
02:55 It's like, he's proven it, he's a fit, and it's just--
02:59 it couldn't be a better, a more perfect match for Caleb Downs
03:02 in this Ohio State defense.
03:04 So I've got a friend in the industry
03:06 that is very tied in with Georgia recruiting.
03:10 And he texted me yesterday afternoon and said,
03:13 have you heard anything about Caleb Downs?
03:15 Where's all this smoke coming from?
03:18 Georgia thought this was done.
03:20 They thought it was done.
03:23 I mean, and again, in my conversation with him,
03:27 even beyond the note that I just shared with you there.
03:31 And I also heard what Jeremy Birmingham,
03:34 one of our friends on the On3 Network,
03:36 said, where basically it was like, he had all but signed
03:42 with Georgia.
03:44 Jeremy said he looked at his apartment.
03:46 He basically had everything put together
03:49 except for putting a signature on paper.
03:51 And you know, Berm said this, but I totally agree.
03:57 Ryan Day is as good a closer as anybody in college football.
04:02 There are not many coaches that I've ever come across
04:05 who can sit in your living room.
04:08 And while they hold this position of authority and power
04:11 because he's the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes,
04:14 there is an ability for Ryan Day to kind of meet you
04:18 where you are and to not talk down to you,
04:22 to not talk over your head.
04:25 It's really impressive the way he can connect with people.
04:27 I think it's one of his best strengths.
04:29 And I don't know that that's for sure what Urban Meyer saw in him
04:34 when he kind of said, this is the guy that's
04:36 going to lead the program when I'm done.
04:39 But unquestionably, I think it's one of Ryan's best character
04:42 traits.
04:42 And I'm sure that part of the conversation when he
04:45 and several of his assistants sat down
04:47 with Caleb and his family was laying out a game plan of like,
04:51 this is what this is going to look like for you.
04:53 This isn't just some like, we're taking a shot in the dark
04:56 because you're a good player.
04:57 We've had a relationship here now for a couple of years.
05:00 We want you to slide right in.
05:01 And he can certainly become a special teams contributor
05:04 right away as well.
05:05 I just think this is as big a get
05:08 as Ohio State has ever gotten in the portal.
05:10 And that includes Justin Fields.
05:13 Yeah, absolutely.
05:14 And one of the things that comes to mind when you kind of lay
05:16 that all out is the opportunity at the macro level
05:19 that kind of stands in front of Ryan Day right now.
05:22 And we'll get into the coaching stuff in a little bit here.
05:24 But just connecting the dots from, hey,
05:27 the season ended the way it did.
05:29 Michigan won the national championship.
05:32 And then Nick Saban retires and kind of like,
05:34 leaves this mantle of who's the next up going to be?
05:38 Who's the next best coach going to be and build
05:40 the next best dynasty?
05:41 And it was like, hey, Ryan Day for the last three weeks
05:44 since that's all went down has been like, I'm pushing,
05:47 like you said, all my chips into the middle.
05:50 We're going to hit recruiting hard.
05:51 We're going to hit NIL.
05:52 And we're going to be the best at it.
05:53 We're going to hit the transfer portal and be the best at it.
05:55 I'm going to hire a coach who now I'm not
05:57 going to call the plays anymore.
05:58 I'm going to be the CEO of the Ohio State Buckeyes.
06:01 And I'm going to drive this ship to be the best
06:03 that it could possibly be.
06:04 And it's like, maybe it did, maybe it didn't.
06:06 But there's certainly this like, hey,
06:09 who's the next best legendary coach going to be?
06:11 And maybe it is.
06:12 Maybe in 20 years down the road, we come back to this clip
06:15 and it's like, Anthony's an idiot,
06:16 didn't have any idea what he was saying.
06:18 But it's also like a thought in your mind.
06:20 It's like, hey, did that--
06:21 One of several clips, I'm sure.
06:23 Right, yeah, right, yeah.
06:24 It'll be in a line.
06:25 A whole library of those.
06:26 Yeah, that'll be-- this clip will be line,
06:28 like, I don't know, number 20.
06:29 But it's just like a thought in your head.
06:31 It's like, hey, is he trying to execute this
06:33 at the highest level possible to take that mantle over
06:35 and be the next great coach in college football?
06:39 By the way, I'm laughing to myself
06:40 because I just realized I said Berm works for on three.
06:43 I think that was his previous employer.
06:45 Berm works for rivals.
06:46 Neither here nor there.
06:47 Anybody that follows us knows who Jeremy Birmingham is.