Always a step ahead, Caleb Downs' preparation is what makes him special

COLUMBUS — Caleb Downs said his high school safeties coach, Freeman Davis, is one of his favorite people in the world. Davis said Downs is the most dynamic player he’s ever coached.

They’ve had only one argument.

It happened in Davis’ Buford, Georgia, home right before Downs left Mill Creek High School to start his college career as an early enrollee at Alabama.

“I tried to explain him, ‘Man, when you get there, it’s a whole new world,'” Davis told Lettermen Row. “It is a profession for people. It used to be in high school you just kind of played to meet girls and have a good time. College you went to be great and to move on to the next level. And it just seems like all of that has kind of worked itself down.”

College football is now like the pros, high school football is now like college, Davis explained.

“And the kids just don’t get an opportunity to be a kid,” he continued. “I can just remember telling him to [be a kid]. I remember he looked me right in my face, and he said, ‘Hey, I’ve got a goal in mind. When I get there, I’ll slow down a little bit. But I got a long way to go.'”

Davis added: “That’s the way he’s always been.”

Before committing to Ohio State, Downs was the On3 Industry Ranking’s top overall player in the transfer portal this year. And before legendary Alabama head coach Nick Saban retired and Downs hit the portal, Downs became the first true freshman since at least 1970 to lead the Crimson Tide in tackles.

Of his 107 total tackles, 70 were solos — the 14th most of any player in the country last season — not to mention his 3.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions, four pass break-ups and one forced fumble.

The 6-foot, 205-pound safety earned SEC Freshman of the Year honors and second-team AP All-American recognition. Actually, Downs was the lone first-year player who made the cut for first- or second-team AP All-American accolades in 2023.

“Last year, it wasn’t, ‘I think I can do it,'” Downs said. “It was really like, ‘God put me here to do it. Let’s do it. There’s nothing else to think about.’

“It’s the same type of mentality: Gotta go in and prove myself to myself again, and not to anybody else.”

Downs is beyond his years, not just in his play but also in the way he handles himself. Downs speaks with maturity and humility that distracts from the fact that he’s just 19 years old.

He went from one blue chip program down south to another up north, and the spotlight has followed him. After Ohio State’s Student Appreciation Day last weekend, students swarmed Downs in hopes of introductions, photos and autographs.

When asked about it, Downs simply repeated that he’s “very appreciative” of the support.

“He’s always been calm, just kind of takes everything as it goes,” Davis said. “He’s super vigilant in doing everything. I mean, his grades speak for themselves.

“He’s the kind of kid you’d want around your kids. That’s about the best way I know to put it.”

Downs is great because of his talent — talent that turned heads nationally his junior season at Mill Creek when he scored in five different ways: four rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns, two interception return touchdowns, one kickoff return touchdown and one touchdown pass.

But he’s special because of his preparation.

“You can take talent as a God-given thing, but the discipline and skill that you develop over time in your life, he’s been able to do that,” Ohio State safeties coach Matt Guerrieri said Wednesday. “He’s a really disciplined guy. He’s the same every day from a mentality standpoint. He’s the same every day from a work ethic standpoint. You see that translate to the field.”

Guerrieri said Downs is probably in the film room more than any other Buckeyes defensive player. He’s setting the standard in that way.

“He’s a workhorse,” Ohio State defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau said of Downs last month. “He just keeps his head down, has blinders on and is just always a player of the game and just learning.”

Downs goes through spring practice in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, watches film, does schoolwork and then watches more film at night. He’s always around the facility like he’s always around the ball.

He’s not just watching film of himself, either. Downs is taking notes on what he’s learning from his new Buckeyes teammates, in addition to studying tape of NFL safeties like Javon Holland of the Miami Dolphins and Antoine Winfield Jr. of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Downs was the same way in high school.

“He would watch film late at night, he’d watch film in the morning time and then we would come in and before practice we would always watch game film,” said Davis, who played his college football at Middle Tennessee and is now into his second decade of coaching.

“As a DB coach, you try to pick up on traits, like when you know a receiver’s running a go route, when he’s running an in, how to stay inside because the routes are pushing back inside. So I would go through and try to pick up keys. And the craziest thing in the world was, he would already know the keys that I was talking about before I ever even said anything. Like he prepared before he needed to prepare.”

Davis emphasized: “He stayed ahead of the game, always.”

While he’s expected to start at free safety this season, Downs is moving all over the field for the Buckeyes and also practicing at strong and “nickel” safety. That kind of flexibility will not only come in handy for defensive packaging at Ohio State, but it will also help Downs’ NFL Draft stock.

Guerrieri knows it’s his job to highlight Downs’ versatile skill set. He also knows it’s his job to out-study Downs, which, for anyone, is a tall task.

“Because his preparation’s so high level, it challenges you as a coach to be an elite teacher,” Guerrieri said. “He’s going to be on his game. It’s like coaching a professional player. He understands the concept of the game so well. He’s put so much time into it. As a coach, you better be matching or equaling that or going above and beyond that.

“If not, he’s going to be a step ahead of the coach.”

Davis agrees with that sentiment.

“Absolutely,” he said. “120%.”

Davis recounted how he’d change coverages in games, and Downs would look at him and say, “Why are we doing this? If we do this, this would work better with this.”

“He was like a house that already had the foundation, had the walls, carpet was in, everything,” Davis said. “All I was was window dressing. You pretty much tell him what you’re thinking and what you want him to do, and he can do it.”

Davis and Downs pushed each other, similar to how Guerrieri and Downs are now pushing each other through preparation at Ohio State. Downs is dialed in on improving his strong suits as well as working on some areas of his game that are weaker.

“Just being better in coverage, being better in the post, being better in my tackling, being a better communicator with my teammates — all that I think I can offer to the team,”Downs said.

“But at the end of the day, it’s got to be a team collective to go do what we want to do.”

Downs hasn’t played a game in a Buckeyes uniform, but he might already be the best player on an elite Ohio State defense. Although he can make an impact at all three levels of that defense, he’s a proponent of doing his “1/11th.”

“I can only do my part,” he said. “I can’t try to do more than that.”

Davis met Downs when the future No. 1 safety in the 2023 recruiting class was just a sophomore at Mill Creek. At the time, Davis knew Downs was good. He didn’t know he was that good, though.

Well, until Downs proved it mid-game.

Downs had already established himself as a “thumper,” but Davis expected Mill Creek’s next opponent to test his do-it-all safety over the top. So Davis relayed that inkling to Downs.

“He goes, ‘I got this. I promise, I got it,'” Davis recalled. “And I watched him bait a quarterback into thinking that he was coming down. Quarterback pumped, tried throw it over the top and Caleb went and got it, intercepted it.

“I was like, ‘OK, you know what? This kid here, he knows exactly what it is he’s doing.’ He knows when you tell him something, he hears it, he listens, and he soaks it all in.”

Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said as much just a couple practices into the spring season.

“Caleb has great football intelligence, picks things up quickly, you know, plays like a veteran,” Knowles said. “The thing you notice about a player like Caleb is, yeah, he still makes mistakes, but he corrects them immediately.”

Davis believes Downs could win the Heisman Trophy at Ohio State if he gets an opportunity to touch the ball on offense. New Buckeyes offensive coordinator Chip Kelly has already placed a playful bid for Downs’ services.

What Downs did defensively as a freshman at Alabama was nothing short of remarkable.

As Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said back in February, Downs’ talent is “exceptional.” But it’s his preparation that drives him to another level.

“If you asked him how good he is right now, he’d tell you he’s not nearly as good as he should be,” Davis said. “That’s just how he thinks.”