Former Alabama Star Caleb Downs Talks Departure, Didn't See Saban's Retirement Coming

The former Alabama safety reflected Saturday on his transfer to Ohio State last year.

Sep 28, 2024; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes safety Caleb Downs (2) celebrates after tackling Michigan State Spartans running back Nate Carter (5) in the first half at Spartan Stadium on Saturday. | Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

For Georgia native and former star Alabama safety Caleb Downs, Monday night's national title game in Atlanta is a big one. Just days before playing Notre Dame to cap off his first season as an Ohio State Buckeye, however, he briefly went into some detail on transferring away from the Crimson Tide after Nick Saban's retirement.

"That was probably one of the most difficult pieces in my life, just try[ing] to make that decision and knowing that the high school decision I made, I wasn't going to be able to stick to," Downs said Saturday, adding that the process was far from immediate. "I didn't know right away that I was going to hit the portal. I tried to give every opportunity to stay... at that time, I didn't want to leave, and I wanted to stick to my choice that I made in high school to stay there."

Downs' reaction to Saban walking away from coaching just over a year ago (on January 10, 2024) was one shared across the landscape of college football: "a huge shock," he said. He described coming to grips with whether it had even happened, because the former head coach had been one of the main reasons Downs came to Alabama. Days later, the safety who had posted 107 tackles as a true freshman and was named the SEC Freshman of the Year entered the transfer portal, after a period that he assessed as five or six days.

At Ohio State, he's logged 76 tackles and a pair of interceptions. After bursting onto the scene as one of the best defensive backs in the country during his freshman season and appearing in the College Football Playoff, he now has the opportunity to call himself a national champion if he and his teammates emerge victorious on Monday night against the Fighting Irish.