Caleb Downs: Transfer portal experience was 'recruiting on steroids'

Ohio State star Caleb Downs was the On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 5 overall prospect in the 2023 high school recruiting class. Then, after earning second-team AP All-American honors as a true freshman safety at Alabama, Downs became the On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 1 overall prospect in the 2024 transfer portal cycle.

“It was like ‘recruiting on steroids’ for me,” Downs said Tuesday of his experience in the portal, “but I wouldn’t change a thing.

“I feel like, if you know how to handle it, and you rely on the things that are stable in your life, it can be handled pretty well. I relied on God and my family for it, so I don’t really think it caused me to shake at all during this experience, but I feel like it was handled at a really high level.”

Downs added: “So I’m glad it happened.”

Downs currently has the 22nd-highest NIL valuation ($817,000) among all college football players, according to On3. He recently signed an NIL deal with Beats by Dre. Earlier this month, he starred in a commercial with American Eagle, along with Buckeyes true freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, thanks to an NIL deal facilitated through the Ohio State-driven NIL collective The Foundation.

The standout safety is settling in well with the Buckeyes.

But after legendary Alabama head coach Nick Saban retired and Downs hit the portal, the Hoschton, Georgia, native was expected to return home to the state school near where he grew up.

Georgia is rich with defensive backfield expertise, after all. Head coach Kirby Smart played defensive back and began his coaching career coaching defensive backs. Former Florida and South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp — who has been with Georgia since 2021 and is now a defensive analyst for the program — played defensive back and began his coaching career coaching defensive backs.

Perhaps most notably, Georgia hired former Alabama cornerbacks coach Travaris Robinson to both replace Muschamp as co-DC and become the Bulldogs’ safeties coach. So not only would Downs had been returning close to home, but he also would have been playing for a familiar face.

Instead, he chose Ohio State, which fell short in his high-profile high school recruitment.

Downs was asked Tuesday how much of his decision was influenced by the amount of talent the Buckeyes had coming back for the 2024 season, not to mention the opportunity to win a national championship with that kind of roster.

“I feel like that was a major piece of it, just because I knew a lot of those guys during recruitment, and I had small relationships with them,” Downs said. “A lot of them were with me for my OVs. So I feel like I had a pretty good relationship with some of them coming in. And then just the knowledge of the team is going to be so strong. …”

Downs later pointed out: “We can be one of the most elite defenses to ever play in this game. So I feel like if we play at the level that we should, then everything will get handled and the plays will be made.”

Downs ended up at Ohio State. He had plenty of suitors, though. And, as he said, his experience in the portal was like “recruiting on steroids.”