Caleb Downs got the rare opportunity to play at two football powerhouses in Alabama and Ohio State. More importantly, he was coached by Nick Saban and Ryan Day. While the former recruited him out of high school, it was the latter who led him to a national championship. But when it comes to who is better, the former Buckeye has an answer prepared.

“You can’t ask. You can’t ask me that,” Downs said during his appearance on the June 2 episode of the St. Brown podcast, when the hosts asked Downs to choose between Saban and Day.

The host had to switch up the question a bit to get something out of him: “Who’s better to hang out with?” For this, the DB did have an answer: “I’ll say I’ve been to Coach Saban’s house for Thanksgiving.

“So, I’ll give Coach Saban that nod.”

Downs’ college journey started with Saban at Tuscaloosa, and from the beginning, you could see that the seven-time national champion treated the DB differently. This wasn’t special treatment; the former Alabama head coach usually reserved his compliments for his freshman players. With Downs, he predicted that the DB would be great at SEC Media Days before the start of the 2023 season.

On his part, Downs earned that praise through his preparation, attention to detail, and competitiveness on the field. These were the traits that Saban wanted in his players from the beginning. What also helped the relationship was Saban’s own past coaching the DBs at the start of his career. Unfortunately, that relationship only lasted a year, ending in January 2024 when Saban decided to call it a day. That’s when Ryan Day entered the picture.

“It was really when he (Nick Saban) retired, I was like, ‘I don’t necessarily know why I came here’ because at the end of the day I wanted to go there to learn from him,” Downs said on the St. Brown Podcast. “It pretty much just turned back into high school recruiting, and then Ohio State was my second school.”

Saban still considers Downs one of his best students, despite the limited time they have spent together. The former Buckeye was selected with the 11th pick of the 2026 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. Luckily for the DB, the former Bama head coach was making the case for him.

“Caleb Downs made more plays in college than anybody in the draft,” Saban declared ahead of the NFL Draft on The Pat McAfee Show. “If he makes that many plays in the NFL… I mean, what is the capability gap? How much better can he get?

“The guy is so instinctive, he’s got really good ability.”

And while Downs may have chosen Saban over Day, he didn’t go with Alabama when it came to football culture.

Caleb Downs chooses Ohio State over Alabama for its culture

Downs entered the transfer portal after Saban retired. At the time, the DB received 102 recruitment calls. But Ohio State won that battle. He became a key piece of Jim Knowles’ defense in Ohio State’s national championship-winning season in 2024. One major reason Downs moved to Columbus and chose it over Alabama was the culture.

“Football culture. I’ll go to Ohio State, actually,” Downs said when asked to choose between the two schools. “I mean, like, football culture. You know what I mean? Like the pedigree, like everything, just the whole football, you know, talking about like high school, Ohio State’s too. Ohio State has a great pedigree and winning tradition.”

Alabama fans may contest the debate over the winning tradition, as the program has won 18 national championships compared to Ohio State’s nine. But the Buckeyes are the winningest program in the history of college football.