COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ryan Day wasn't going to sit in the same living room seat again. Call it bad luck or bad memories, but the Ohio State coach couldn't disrupt the delicate balance of the recruiting universe.
Last January presented not only a second chance for Ohio State's coach but also his target. About a year earlier, prized five-star safety Caleb Downs turned down the Buckeyes in favor of Alabama. His father said the decision was guided by "the voice of God."
"I don't know all the reasons why the Lord would point out 'Bama at one point … but that's what he did," Gary Downs told CBS Sports.
Downs was so torn between the two schools he cried relaying his decision to Day.
"[The call] was probably like 10 minutes, but the first, like, five minutes was me just not being able to say words," Downs said.
So to doubt how Day got back into that living room for a second shot at the five-star safety would be unwise. A week after Nick Saban retired on Jan. 10, everybody was back in on Downs after Alabama's freshman sensation had entered the transfer portal, instantly becoming the top available prize.
"The first hour my name [was] in the portal, I had every coach I talked to in high school over four years hit me up in that one day," Downs recounted. "Probably 60-70 [coaches]. Calls just in general, 100-plus."
It was after midnight that day the 19-year-old who had just become a freshman All-American and SEC Defensive Freshman of the Year finally hung up the phone. Day and Ohio State already had earned special preference having finished a close second the first time.
All that was left for Day was avoiding the chair in the Downs' living room that was so unlucky the first time.
"Fast forward a year and a couple of weeks, and then they [Ohio State] were back in our house, sitting down in the same living room," Gary Downs said. "It was funny; Coach Day said, 'Hey, I don't want to sit in the same seat I did last time.'"
Day obviously won the room. Now comes the hard part: winning everything else.
We don't actually know which piece of furniture Day chose that day, but it is worth retelling because of the result. Gary Downs played seven seasons in the NFL and coached high school and college football. One son (Josh) is currently in the league. The other was at the center of one of the biggest portal transformations in the three-year history of the one-time transfer rule.
Downs is that good on and off the field.
As a freshman in 2023, he led Alabama with 107 tackles, the most stops by a Crimson Tide freshman in at least 50 years. Downs is the only rising sophomore this year to lead Pro Football Focus' positional rankings. PFF went as far to say Downs would be the first safety off the board in the 2024 NFL Draft had he been eligible.
Ohio State got a plug-and-play All-American to fortify what was already a top defense. Ohio State's NIL initiative got in line to land what might be the nation's top transfer class, headlined by Downs who ranked as the top overall player in the portal.
"I think he got a Defender Range Rover. The same dealership where I got mine," former Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said. "It's a little better -- better than mine."
In many ways, Ohio State's season is a study in how that money should translate into results at the highest level. Sure, the likes of Ole Miss, Oregon and Miami have dived deep into the portal during the offseason, but the stakes are certainly higher here in this case.
Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA are coming into the Big Ten to claim their share of turf. Ohio State hasn't beaten Michigan in three years. The expanded College Football Playoff beckons. It seems like Ohio State not only has a CFP spot reserved, but there will be trouble in these parts if the Buckeyes don't win it all.
Downs' teammate, Denzel Burke, has already set the standard by telling the world it's "natty or bust" for the Buckeyes.
When AD Ross Bjork told Yahoo Sports! recently that Ohio State players received "around $20 million" in NIL money from collectives and brand affiliates, the struggle became real and clear. Bjork basically became the most credible figure to mention such NIL numbers on the record.
That's how you "rebuild" a team that goes into the season No. 2 in the nation.
"One of the donors said, 'Hey, I want to help, but I keep hearing and reading [Day] may go to the pros,' Smith recalled. "New England was open and Ryan is from that area. His name was circling. I can't answer that question … I can say to the donor, 'Oh, he's not going pro. His family wants to stay here, raise his kids here.'
"To have him say that is different than me saying that."
Day bought in at the same level his transfer class did. He was the guy who a couple of years ago said it would take $13 million in NIL to remain competitive. Apparently, the price of staying competitive has gone up. For the first time as Ohio State coach, Day gave up the play-calling duties after hiring his mentor Chip Kelly away from his position as UCLA coach to serve as offensive coordinator.
"I went overboard on the coaches' salaries," Smith added. "We went after Chip and got him. I left Ross a deficit that he's got to get through. I apologized to him."
In terms of a brand, Downs is something at least as big. His NIL marketing is handled by Excel Sports Management, according to his father. That's the same group that represents Caitlin Clark.
Downs arguably is the tip of the spear amid Ohio State's transformation. He certainly was a reason to observe Ohio State's unique dichotomy even further. Day is the winningest active coach in FBS (56-8, .875), but three of those eight losses are to Michigan. The Buckeyes haven't beaten The Team Up North in three years (more 1,600 days!) and haven't won a national championship in 10 years.
Mix in the portal, NIL and that astounding statement by Bjork a couple of weeks ago, and it's safe to say the Buckeyes are all in.
"I tell people, '56-8, it's ridiculous [to criticize it]," Smith said. "I get it. [But] you gotta do it. In our history, every coach has had to do it or you're hung with it forever."
While a prized addition to the defensive side of the ball, Day and Kelly also quickly realized that Downs may be able to contribute on offense. All indications are he will be worked in at running back where the Buckeyes already have one of the strongest rooms in the country.
"Sometimes you can see a kid who has a ton of athletic ability, but is he going to be able to handle playing defense, playing special teams, coming over and having a package on offense," Kelly told CBS Sports. "Caleb could in a second."
"The kid is a football junkie," he added. "He just loves playing ball. You'll talk to him after practice and he'll say, 'You gave us this formation. That was new. That was hard.' I'm always trying to get feedback from him."
Downs is an old soul masquerading as a teenage prodigy. He carefully considers questions. He is interested in real estate. He has taken up golf.
Among his heroes who've played his position are Ed Reed and Ronnie Lott --- definitely old souls themselves. Downs definitely looks up to his older brother. Josh Downs played at North Carolina and is currently with the Indianapolis Colts. An uncle, Dre Bly, was just enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame.
As a youth, Downs was a star in the Gwinnett (Georgia) Football League. His father recalls a 7-year-old Caleb clocking an opposing player. Both teams took knees. The parent of the hurt player immediately started cussing out young Caleb. Gary Downs thought about intervening, then hesitated.
"Caleb never blinked," his dad said.
"There were people that offered him inducements in high school to go from one high school to another," Gary Downs added. "Even 7-on-7, 'If you come play 7-on-7 with us, you don't have to pay any fees and we'll take care of your travel and hotel.'
"We as a family had to ask, 'Do we need any of that? Do we shield our kids from that? How much do you tell your kids what's going on?'"
Dad decided to introduce his sons to the game early. Josh was 6 or 7 when his 37-year-old dad began butting heads with him in the basement. Josh, then 9, and Caleb, 6, dressed out in full pads in the house while dad orchestrated a mini-version of the Oklahoma Drill.
"That was my first true memory of football. Josh was bigger than me, for sure," Caleb said. "I was definitely bullied."
Downs was kidding about being bullied. The moment, though, changed his football life. The best defensive backs can see things before they happen. Count Downs as one of the best.
"I would say, yes, there's points where you can see the game better than anybody else," he said.
Downs' first college investment was learning from the best. Saban not only is the greatest coach of all time, but he was Downs' de facto position coach. They got a year together. During that time, they bonded to the point of regularly texting each other.
"There was no thought of leaving until [Saban retired]," Downs said.
To say that the Downs family is spiritual in this endeavor would be an understatement. Gary Downs says he once stayed at a coaching job "about three years longer than I wanted to because I was waiting on confirmation from God that I should leave."
He says that voice of God usually comes to him in a dream. Sometimes he just hears it. It has guided him and the family in several important decisions. This was one of them.
"We literally told [Ohio State], 'Listen, everything in his heart on just logic alone [was] let's go to Ohio State.' But this is a spiritual thing. People believe it, don't believe it. I don't care at his point. The Lord had said, 'This is where you should be, at 'Bama,' Gary Downs said. "That's what he did."
Evaluate the journey however you want, but Downs is where he's supposed to be. That was almost predetermined once Saban retired. Georgia was in the picture. So was Notre Dame. But family was already close to Ohio State secondary coach Tim Walton. Day had made his passion known.
Natty or bust for Caleb Downs? There's a higher calling for a player who can always see the field. Pull up a chair for a glimpse at the future. Just make sure it's the right one.
"When God speaks we listen," Gary Downs said.
Ohio State's best secondary ever? The Buckeyes' 2024 unit could meet that mark, writes Bucknuts247.
