Football: Seth McLaughlin and Caleb Downs, from ’Bama to Buckeye

Lauryn Luderman
Wed, 31 Jan 2024 03:16:51 +0000
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Freshman safety Caleb Downs speaks to the Ohio State media for the first time at availability for the football team Tuesday. Credit: Caleb Blake | Photo Editor

Just 30 days ago, Alabama’s Seth McLaughlin and Caleb Downs fought to keep their football season alive in Pasadena, California.?

Little did the two know that would be their last battle in crimson.?

On Tuesday, they sat down inside Ohio State’s Woody Hayes Athletic Center, decked out in scarlet — 626 miles from Tuscaloosa, Alabama — and as official Buckeyes.?

The graduate interior offensive lineman, McLaughlin, and freshman safety, Downs, make up two of the six players Ohio State has acquired from the transfer portal since the end of the 2023 season.?

McLaughlin entered the portal Jan. 3 and committed to the Buckeyes nearly 72 hours later. He said his decision to leave the Crimson Tide was in part because he’s always thrived off of change and that Ohio State is “one of the greatest.”?

“I thought Ohio State’s one of the greatest programs in college football and coming from a place like Alabama, I thought I wanted to go to another similar place that’s always competing to win championships and has great coaching and great development,” McLaughlin said.?

For Downs, who played more snaps than anyone else on Alabama’s defense last year, his motivation to enter the portal came a week after former Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban announced his retirement Jan. 10. Downs said Ohio State is similar to Alabama in many ways, and he feels good about his decision to become a Buckeye, which became official Jan 19.?

“I just love the program here. I love [safeties] coach Walton, and I love what the people had to say around here,” Downs said. “I believe in coach [Ryan] Day, and I believe in this team.”

After starting over 20 games at center in Tuscaloosa, McLaughin will be joining a relatively young offensive line group, including sophomore center Carson Hinzman and junior Donovan Jackson.?

Similarly, Ohio State brought Bill O’Brien in as the next offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. O’Brien was previously a college football and NFL head coach, and most recently, the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of the New England Patriots.?

Other than Ohio State’s impressive reputation, stacked returning roster and “brotherhood” culture, McLaughlin said he and O’Brien have history, which excited him even more about becoming a Buckeye.?

“He’s a really good leader of men. He’s very knowledgeable in the game — he’s coached some of the best players to ever play the game,” McLaughlin said. “When you walk into a place like this who’s going to be having great players to coach, I think we can have a lot of success with him.”

McLaughlin, who committed to Ohio State 13 days before Downs, had no influence on his decision to come to Columbus, Downs said. Nonetheless, Downs said the two have a great relationship and it is good to be together again.??

But Downs was on the other side of the ball. As the reigning Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year and leading tackler of the Crimson Tide’s 2023 defense, he said he is looking forward to playing side-by-side safeties — senior Lathan Ransom and sophomore Sonny Styles — and filling in any role he can.?

“A lot of people in the secondary can work together to be cohesive and be a brotherhood, but Lathan and Sonny, they’ve welcomed me and I appreciate them for that, so I think us working together, we can do some real damage,” Downs said.?

Luckily for Ohio State fans, both four- or five-star transfer prospects, respectively, already have a vengeance toward Michigan.

The Buckeyes’ third loss in a row to Michigan on Nov. 25, 2023, essentially kept them out of the College Football Playoff, sending them to complete their season in a New Year’s Six Bowl. For the Crimson Tide, the Wolverines stopped them on a final-minute, fourth-and-1 play to advance to the national championship by a score of 27-20 on Jan. 1, ultimately winning it over the Washington Huskies Jan. 8.

All time, Alabama and Michigan have only faced off against each other five times and the Crimson Tide lead 3-2. McLaughlin and Downs will now have at least one more chance to beat the Wolverines come November 2024 — the two are ready to fully engage in the rivalry.?

“I’m definitely hungry to beat Michigan myself,” Downs said.?

At the end of the day, the former Alabamians came to Ohio State to win championships, they said, and to be what Downs called “elite.”