Buckeyes Football Chats with the Media
3/7/2024 12:35:00 PM | Football
On Caleb Downs
“Caleb has got great football intelligence, picks things up quickly, plays like a veteran. The thing you notice about a player like Caleb is he still makes mistakes, but he corrects them immediately. That's what you're always looking for out of players.”
On many players returning next season
“It's humbling because you're in it because you want to have an effect on the players and their development. When they come back, when they have a chance to move on, It shows you that they're happy to be here.”
On Sonny, Cj and Cody
“You know, part of the time we'll have all three of them on the field with Cody. So there's balance there in that they're competing, and they also could be in the same package.”
On Cj Hicks
“CJ has got a great attitude. You know, I've always felt that CJ has a lot of pressure on him, you know, being from Ohio. But he's coachable and he understands growth and our plan for him. He’s got a great attitude.”
On returning to the team
"If you ask all of us who decided to come back, I think obviously you know there's the personal decision to come back to improve your draft stock. But really I think for a lot of us it was definitely the team thing, coming back, unfinished business. Wouldn't feel right leaving here like that without getting one more shot that we had."
On staying in Columbus another year
"I think we're all happy to be back. I know I'm happy to be back. I've lived in Columbus my whole life, so it's definitely not weird being here another year."
On getting into a groove while playing
"I knew what I was capable of all along. And it was frustrating the first few years not playing for whatever reason on the field to what I was capable of, but once you just put that stuff to the side and get out there and play ball, it's just gonna take care of itself."
On returning from injury
“I’ve been blessed, they told me with my leg injury that it was supposed to take eight months, seven months and I came back in like six and a half. I forgot the exact time they told me but I came back a lot faster than I was supposed to. I’m just blessed to have Stu in my life to make these injuries not so major.”
On making the decision to go to the next level or stay at OSU after last season
“I mean, I’m not going to sit here and lie and tell you that I’m the moment it wasn’t hard. It was definitely hard but it wasn’t as hard when I realized that me and my brothers didn’t achieve our goals. We have three goals here at Ohio State and that’s beat the team up north, win the Big 10 Championship, win the national Championship. So when I sit here and look at the big picture, yeah the next level is my all time dream, but I still haven’t finished my legacy at Ohio State and haven’t achieved those three goals, so it made the decision a lot easier.”
On not getting to play against Michigan last year
“It was ridiculously hard. I mean, that was the game, that’s really the only game I wanted to play all year and it’s all I thought about. Especially just how the last game ended and me not playing the game I wanted to play, that’s the only game I had circled. So I just guess I gotta wait two years.”
On returning to the team
"I was on the beach with my friends and family, and basically I called a bunch of the older guys, seeing where their head was. And they basically told me, why not come back? We got a good squad coming back, we gonna do good things. NFL isn't going nowhere. Why not get another year of development, you know, learn more things before the next year?"
On how the team stays focused
"You gotta take it step by step, you gotta take it game by game. You can never look down at your opponent because that's when you get beat. You just gotta approach it every game with that same mindset of, you gotta dominate, dominate, dominate."
On determination to win a national championship this year
"There's definitely a difference. Everyone's working harder, we know it's our last run. Most of us don't have any years after this. So we gotta go big or go home, man, and we're not trying to go home."
On where he wants his game to improve
“I think one of my main points is my pass rush game. I think definitely elevating that will be able to turn myself unstoppable. So I think by fine tuning that and really getting good at that would definitely make me a better player.”
On what him and Tyleik bring to the game
“I think us together could be the best in the country, I stand by that. You know, we just have all the brotherhood in the world and it’s just us together man. We just locking each other in and having that chemistry and know that we’re gonna go out and play for each other.”
On players decisions to return to the team for another year
“Yeah, I think this is probably the big year. This is better than last year, even though we had a great year last year, the buy in is just unimaginable. We want this bad and I think all of us coming together and all of us coming back this year is just a group understanding that we want to come in and we want to handle business.”
On what was important in his decision to return to OSU
“Honestly, just make more money. I had a first, second grade, but at the end of the day I had no gold pants, no Big Ten, no natty. Just being able to come back for my brothers and doing it for the state of Ohio. I’m trying to finish the job this year, that’s the plan.”
On Caleb (Downs) fitting into the secondary so far
“Even from the first day in the building, he already speaks for himself, his film speaks for himself. He already knows the whole defense, he’s already out there with the ones of us. So like, you know, he’s that guy and he’s gonna do a lot of big things for us.”
On his goals for this year
“Individual goals for me at least, I want to be able to be recognized as the number one corner in the country. Be the number one corner taking off the 2025 draft. I have a lot of big personal goals that I want this year and I’m striving daily to reach that and get 1% better everyday. Team goals, I want to be able to continue to bring my leadership skills to the team, continue to push guys, push the younger guys.”
On having a veteran heavy defense
“It feels good. All of us know every position, not just our position. So we know why we run plays in certain situations.”
On how how the dynamic between the DBs and receivers in the past 4 years
“It’s kind of weird. When I first came here, out secondary was so young. They had Chris and Garrett , so now just seeing that flip is kind of crazy. You know, we came a long way just to change the whole narrative of the school.”
On what he hopes to get better at
“I want to get better at getting more interceptions. I feel like I'm capable of getting five plus interceptions this year. I got my hands on a couple of balls last year, so I feel like just getting more interceptions.”
On being a veteran leader of the linebacker group
"It’s been a long time coming, but I feel honored. You know, there is a lot of respect and effort that goes into being a linebacker at Ohio State and it’s a great honor. I want to honor all the guys who came before me, but I also want to play my own way and be a great defender here and lead the defense.”
On having James Laurinaitis as a coach
“He’s the best. I really can’t say enough good things about him. Just having him been in our shoes before and then being able to coach us now, like you can’t just say enough good things about him. It’s a really great experience and everyday is a grind.”
On how different the defense looks now
“You know, I think Coach Knowles does a really good job of keeping things simple when they need to be simple and then molding it into more complex things. We’re trying different things and we’ll get more into that as the spring and the season goes on, but you know I think that the sky is the limit with how we can change things around. I don’t wanna give too much away but just like different packages and stuff, I’m just excited for what the future might hold.”
On Coach Knowles telling him he can play outside LB, safety, corner
“Yeah he's really just putting my skill level to the test, allowing me to grow more mentally and physically, Improve my IQ of the game in multiple areas of the field and continue to grow as a player.”
On staying for his senior year
"There's a lot that went into it. t I had to take away take a step back mentally and really look at it. I spent a lot of time with my family and my my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, just allowing him to lead me. When you're young and your dream is right there you're so tempted to just go and get it. But for me it was just the Brotherhood here and I felt like there's a lot more that I can improve on skill wise.”
On finding out Caleb Downs transferred
“I was cooking one night and in our D-line group chat, they just texted boom and I had no idea what that meant. I had to scroll all the way up and read what we were talking about. Once I found out that he was coming, I was very blessed and very glad to have him part of the Brotherhood. He's a workhorse, he just keeps his head down, has blinders on and is just always a player of the game and just learns it. He never continues to just stay a stay in one spot or stay stagnant.”
