Key Takeaways
- Caleb Downs has now played for two powerhouse programs – Alabama and Ohio State.
- The star defensive back sat down with RG and discussed the differences between playing for Nick Saban and Ryan Day.
- Downs also explained why he believed the Buckeyes were a perfect fit after leaving Tuscaloosa.
Caleb Downs #2 of the Ohio State (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Caleb Downs will enter his junior season as the top defensive back in college football.
The 20-year-old is coming off a sensational season, capped off with a national championship win in his first season with the Ohio State Buckeyes. Downs transferred from the Alabama Crimson Tide following Nick Saban's retirement after his freshman season.
Along with winning his first national championship, Downs was also named a Unanimous All-American and Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year. Downs was recently named a cover athlete for the deluxe edition of NCAA Football 26.
"He was the most consistent person that I've ever met," says Downs of Saban in a one-on-one interview with RG. "He was the same person every day, and that's something that I acknowledged, and I learned from him. Just watching how he operated is a key piece to success. Just making sure every day, you put your best foot forward and you go in with the intention to be the best and with the mindset I'm going to do everything the right way so I can be in the best position."
Saban is obviously considered the best college head coach of all time, but his current one, Ryan Day, is starting to carve out his own legacy. The 46-year-old Day is coming off a national championship victory in his sixth full season in Columbus.
Day has consistently led top programs since his arrival at Ohio State, finishing within the top 10 every single season he's been a head coach. However, the Buckeyes had come up on the short end of things during his first few seasons, losing to Alabama during his second season in the National Championship Game.
Despite losing to the six-win Michigan Wolverines in a surprise upset at the end of the regular season, Day was able to lead the Buckeyes to a national championship in college football's first 12-team playoff.
Downs details the decision that led to him transferring from one powerhouse program to another. It's worth noting that Downs was already familiar with Ohio State, with the Buckeyes being one of the top programs to recruit the top-ranked safety coming out of high school in 2023.
"I wanted to be a part of a culture and people that are like-minded to me, and they had a lot of great people that I knew from recruitment," details Downs. "They had a couple of players that I knew, a lot of coaches that I knew. I knew it was a good situation coming into and then I knew that they had a lot of returning players and a lot of hungry guys that were eager to win. I knew we would have at least a chance to go do something special, which we did."
The third-year safety says the best character trait of Coach Day is that he cares about his players and seeks their input on key matters. In other words, he empowers his players.
"Just caring about your players and knowing them intimately, caring about them off the field is something that I've learned from him," says Downs. "It's not always do this, do that. It's, 'Hey, can I get your guys' opinion on this? How can we grow better together?' That type of vibe, and I feel like that's a special thing as a coach, not always being like, 'I have to be the one that does everything.' To be able to say, 'Hey, my players may have some input, and I'm going to take the input and see what we can do it.'"
Alabama has been the best college football program over the past 16 years, winning six national championships and advancing to nine total title games during Saban's tenure in Tuscaloosa. Meanwhile, Ohio State has been a fixture in the national championship picture over the past couple of decades, winning three national championships and advancing to the title game on three other occasions since 2002.
Downs details the difference between playing at both programs is merely how the head coach wants to run things. But the expectations remain the same at both schools.
"I would say the two biggest differences for me is just the way that the coaches run the program," says Downs. "It's just a different philosophy. The standard is the same and the expectation is the same — that you win every game and that you go out and dominate every play. But the means of how you do it is different, so I would say that's the biggest thing. The differences is how the head man wants to run the program."
