Alabama Freshman All American safety Caleb Downs transferring to OSU
Goddamn, Ryan Day ain't fucking around
Former Alabama safety Caleb Downs commits to Ohio State - Pete Thamel http://espn.com/app
January 19th, 2024 at 8:51 PM ^
Certainly not. They’re spending some doll hairs to retain a guy they no longer like.
January 19th, 2024 at 9:01 PM ^
The emotional chaos cycle is strong down there.
January 19th, 2024 at 9:06 PM ^
exactly. and the fact that they didn't do this before just proves they thought each of the past two losses was just a fluke
January 20th, 2024 at 9:10 AM ^
Can you imagine the complete implosion in CBus if we win down their next year?
January 20th, 2024 at 9:22 AM ^
It would be like when Vancouver lost the Stanley Cup finals 15-ish years ago only without the kissing.
January 20th, 2024 at 11:39 AM ^
ahem, *when we win. FIFY.
January 20th, 2024 at 6:55 PM ^
The energy of the implosion would be roughly equal to a black hole collapsing. I think Day is a great coach, I’d retain him regardless if he lost The Game next year as long as he made the CFB championship game. Most don’t feel that way, and Michigan can set OSU football back a decade with a win in November by getting Day fired.
January 19th, 2024 at 8:51 PM ^
Ok, bet.
January 19th, 2024 at 8:52 PM ^
OSU is truly kicking ass in recruiting and the portal. Obviously they are going all in on next year. What are we doing???? Someone please give me a positive response cuz it’s getting ridiculous now.
January 19th, 2024 at 8:53 PM ^
National champions.
January 19th, 2024 at 10:06 PM ^
I can't be bothered by football for like, another 2 decades. Being national champ takes all the stress away when stuff like this happens
January 19th, 2024 at 10:49 PM ^
I'm with you. It doesn't matter what happens for the rest of my life, I got to see my favorite team make three straight playoff appears, win three straight games against Ohio State, three straight Big Ten Championships, a Rose Bowl and a National Championship. Oh, and they went 40-3 in that span.
They can get Patrick Mahomes to go there and still nothing that Ohio State does is going to bring me down from that.
January 19th, 2024 at 8:56 PM ^
Oh no, a team we beat is bringing in more guys from another team we beat! Feel better?
January 19th, 2024 at 10:48 PM ^
He might be 4th or 5th even 6th best on our team.
Moore, Paige, Saab, Johnson, Berry.
January 19th, 2024 at 11:12 PM ^
Lol, I love this team as much anybody else, but he would be, at the bare minimum, our second starting safety next year. Easily better than all of those guys except maybe Moore.
January 20th, 2024 at 1:27 AM ^
So you wouldve played him over our starting safeties last year if you were coach? You could do better with him than what are secondary/safeties did? Maybe it is an absolute flawless plug and play and he plays up to their standard but he isnt better than them in a Michigan uniform. You arent upgrading perfect. Ever.
January 20th, 2024 at 5:27 AM ^
He would be a starting safety, yes.
January 20th, 2024 at 5:34 AM ^
I love our guys and as a team we were fantastic, resulting in a perfect season.
However, this guy is a certified stud. He had 107 tackles on a very good defense last year... as a true freshman and not in the LB position. Nobody does that, anywhere.
Yes, he starts over anyone that we've had since Charles Woodson. He's that good.
January 20th, 2024 at 3:03 PM ^
A safety leading your team in tackling just means your front seven is shit. I'd much rather have a dt or a lb lead the team, that means they aren't getting many yards each play.
January 21st, 2024 at 6:13 AM ^
The backfield for Alabama was phenomenal but the front seven weren't shit. They also weren't typical Alabama caliber either other than edge Dallas Turner. I also see after further research that they pulled Downs toward the line on a lot of plays so he was playing a pseudo-LB in those cases which would account for more tackles.
Per Drain's pregame analysis, "mega-5* Caleb Downs, who is a true freshman. Downs has played exceptionally well this season and earns a star from me, impressive for a Tr Fr safety."
He will certainly add to the challenge of The Game next year.
January 20th, 2024 at 1:52 AM ^
He’s better than all of them. He’s going to be a first round pick at safety and a multiple time all American
January 20th, 2024 at 6:08 AM ^
Seriously I don’t think he would have moved ahead of Moore and Paige as returning starters.
January 20th, 2024 at 12:03 AM ^
Yes, I actually do. Thank you SDJ!
January 19th, 2024 at 8:56 PM ^
Celebrating a national championship?
January 19th, 2024 at 8:56 PM ^
Can someone summarize the article? My browser is running too slow from all the National Championship merch and Rose Bowl highlight tabs I have open.
January 19th, 2024 at 10:34 PM ^
This needs way more upvotes
January 19th, 2024 at 9:00 PM ^
Uh, sitting on our golden throne?
They've "kicked ass" in recruiting every single year. Lot of good those hired guns have done the past three years. We may experience a dropoff for sure, but unlike THE University of Michigan, they're physically incapable of beating the SEC so no worries about them surpassing our last season.
January 19th, 2024 at 9:11 PM ^
Who cares. They don't even have a QB, and their best player by far, a generational player, is off to the NFL. What would they have been without MHJ? The answer is 9-4. Do you really think Ryan Day is going to bring in a bunch of transfers and build a champion in 1 year. Michigan's championship is a 5-year project of developing cohesiveness, trust, leadership. You think a team with Jim Knowles as DC is going to turn heads? Michigan is averaging 37.5 ppg against Knowles.
January 20th, 2024 at 8:11 AM ^
While I agree with all this i gotta give that Dbag credit for AT LEAST trying to do what needs done. If the Day softness wears off, then it’s all for nothing. But he did kill it in the transfer portal. If, somehow, everything comes together than they’re gonna be a real pain in the ass!
January 19th, 2024 at 9:23 PM ^
Michigan football won the national championship right?
Season 2 of The Way Home premieres this Sunday on the Hallmark Channel
AC/DC music
January 19th, 2024 at 9:28 PM ^
This is the main problem for our program while Harbaugh kicks tires in the NFL. We miss out on 90% of the transfer portal in the off season. It is a pain point for sure. Don’t know how bad it really will be until next year.
January 19th, 2024 at 9:43 PM ^
LMAOOOOOOOOOO!
Yeah, we REALLY missed out last year and the year before, huh? Left with the dregs like some the Rimmington winner. Then there's that scrub CB from UMass, right? Oh, and don't even get me going on how worthless Barner, Josaiah Stewart, and those Stanford cast-off OL were.
January 20th, 2024 at 11:48 AM ^
Trying to say we miss in the portal after the last two off-seasons is laughable. I love this group of coaches. They have not stopped working just because Jim is interviewing.
What stops many of the "big splash" transfers is the lack of giant up-front bag and departmental transfer-credit issues. Given those (quite frankly) stupid and avoidable limitations that we are imposing on ourselves, we have done an incredible job.
January 19th, 2024 at 9:28 PM ^
Football is a very complicated game requiring a great deal more than simple, raw, physical talent. Even the most elite college players require coaches to teach the specific skills and to orchestrate the play of the team. Without excellent coaching even elitely talented players can result in mediocre team play. OSU has been coached at a very average level for several years. Michigan's coaching staff has been elite for the last 3 years-the best in the game this year. Unless and until OSU resolves its considerable coaching issues they will struggle-even with the best talent.
The question, here, for Michigan is with regard to the retention of that elite staff. If there is significant coaching staff retention, Michigan they could make a very serious run at another NC.
January 19th, 2024 at 10:38 PM ^
another national title with no QB and 5 new OL starters?
its possible but lets be real - its highly unlikely.
they just went on a historic run with the most complete roster michigan might be capable of fielding these days. plenty of talent remains but its difficult to consistently reload as a developmental program.
and thats ok - not just bc thats the way it is but also bc they just won a championship!
January 20th, 2024 at 1:34 AM ^
Going into 2021 I was as down as I had been since Hoke's last disaster. Most publications had all our position groups in the 50's or worse. Harbaugh took a 50% pay cut and talks of an 8 win season were seen as possibly optimistic. We beat Osu won the big ten and went on to the playoffs, a 4 team playoff. If that team can make a run this team certainly can. Scoring 25 points every game last year wouldve left us 15-0. We can do 25!
January 20th, 2024 at 4:52 PM ^
Brian Ferentz would like a word with you.
January 19th, 2024 at 9:46 PM ^
Nobody can coach a team down more than Ryan Fucking Day. I give you....CJ Stroud et al. RELAX.
January 20th, 2024 at 3:56 PM ^
Cj was a world beater. Fortunately for us, Day had no fucking clue how to play complimentary football.
January 19th, 2024 at 9:55 PM ^
They’re spending a fortune chasing what is ours.
I got news for Buckeye fans. Their offensive line is trash. Their big upgrade on the line was getting a guy that our d-line owned in the semifinal. They aren’t the only team loading up for next year. Georgia is more talented, better in the trenches, and they have a better coaching staff. Texas has also loaded up in the portal.
They are spending tens of millions of dollars and still won’t win a National Championship. Sucks to be them.
January 19th, 2024 at 11:40 PM ^
I don't know what everyone else is doing, but as a fan I'm still basking in the glow. Ohio State may buy their way to a home win against Michigan, so be it. Michigan's culture is strong, and they prove repeatedly that we are playing a long game.
But even with Caleb Downs, Ohio State still has to show up and actually win. All pressure is on them, and their response has been to grab up as many players as they can from the team we just beat.
January 20th, 2024 at 12:12 AM ^
Celebrating a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP! And three straight wins over tOSU. Or the only program with 1000+ wins. Take your pick. Enjoy the moment.
Start thinking about next season sometime in August or a few minutes before kickoff of first game.
January 20th, 2024 at 10:13 PM ^
Right now our coaching staff is figuring out where they will be coaching next year. We won a championship, so its really all gravy, but you can't effectively recruit the portal while half your staff is eyeing NFL opportunities and its costing us for next year.
January 19th, 2024 at 8:53 PM ^
Paying players like a $EC team
January 19th, 2024 at 9:46 PM ^
The thing is, I'm not sure how much of a benefit this is to them in terms of gaining an advantage against Michigan. Do they really need Caleb Downs to help cover our receiving crew? I would figure they already have an advantage there. Now I don't know how good he is in run support, so maybe there is something to that.
I would be much more concerned with them bringing in stud OL mashers to continue closing the gap at the line of scrimmage.
January 20th, 2024 at 1:37 PM ^
He’s great at covering tight ends and is an aggressive tackler
January 19th, 2024 at 8:53 PM ^
Sorry, I can’t hear you. I’ve got a national championship in my ear.
January 19th, 2024 at 9:29 PM ^
Good one, Patrick
January 19th, 2024 at 8:53 PM ^
Their defense still isn’t as good as the one Michigan faced in the Rose Bowl. Unless JTT and Sawyer make giant leaps as pass rushers OSU is going to lose multiple games.
January 19th, 2024 at 8:59 PM ^
Their schedule does not look terribly tough. Really it is a 2 game schedule. They have to win in Oregon and beat (a step-back year) UM at home. I don't think PSU will put up much of a fight. Maybe a 2nd yr Nebraska as a trap game after Oregon, but that is it.