Ohio State is STACKED! with guests Gary Downs & Trajen Odom | 5-Star Flex

on today's five-star Flex we're going to take a deep dive into the program known as the Ohio State Buckey that's right the home of arguably the deepest roster in college football and oh yeah also the home of the number one ranked recruiting class in the land yep that's right and what else do we have we have an exclusive interview with the father of Allstar generational Talent Caleb DS yep his father Gary DS is here we're going to talk to him about his process and how he ended up at Ohio State plus everything going on in the DS family which also include includes Josh DS who's tearing it up for the Indianapolis coach right now oh yeah and then we'll also talk to fourstar defensive lineman Tron Odum right here on the fivestar flex please follow me on Instagram and Twitter at Duke scoop and make sure you hit the like And subscribe button to get more content on on three recruits let's go this year in col football the team with the most to lose and the most to prove isn't a team that doesn't have a lot of wins we're talking about one of the most winning recent programs in college football the Ohio State Buckey right now it's Championship or bus and to be honest that's a very very fair narrative because these guys have the best roster in college football in my opinion when you look at the depth not only the top end talent but when you look at the depth of the roster it's it's it's incredible it's insane and the way that I look at a roster when I want to talk about how deep it is is I'm from SEC country and I'm thinking how many of these guys could come and make an impact in the SEC today and it's not just Ohio State starters it's their second stream they've got some third stram guys and you're going to see in the transfer portal every year Ohio state is going to be one of those programs that provide starters to other power for programs yeah Ohio state is loaded I mean all right let's just start at the top let's go to the quarterback room first and foremost you've got will Howard comes over for Kansas State he's got really really a huge amount of big game experience coming out of the Big 12 last year he's a guy with a lot of poise a lot of intangibles and he does have a lot of arm Talent he's a guy that's going to really be pulling the streams for Ohio State this year and I think that if he does what he's supposed to do with that cast the talent that He has around him is going to be a really good season in Columbus but you don't stop there you've got another guy who's been around for a while and have some experience in Devin Brown then after you go there you gotta go Julian S who last year was the number one overall recruit in the country when it came to quarterbacks now after you get there right then you say man you're at the fourth stream you got a guy like Lincoln King Holz who's just a lot of teams are just waiting for him to put his name in the portable because he can make another roster better immediately and oh yeah your red shirt candidate was the number four overall quarterback in the country last year eron Nolan who had teams licking their chops just in case that he was the type of guy who was going to leave instead of staying to compete which he did which I'll get to later that's just your quarterback room okay let's talk about wide receivers you bring in arguably the most physically imposing receiver in recent history when you talk about a guy like Jeremiah Smith who on top of that physicality that he brings the speed that he brings he brings insane inair ball catch abilities the way that he attacks the ball is something that we haven't seen in recent years and he's just one he's a Gody that you can't afford to double cover well you want to double cover him you probably should but you can't afford to because at that time then you leave a guy like Carell Tate one onone not even to mention a abuka who then he's going to eat you up if you have a your third corner on him that that's dinner time a bucket of chicken we gotta eat now baby those are your wide receivers and then you got guys on the bench that are four and five stars just lined up Talent after Talent after Talent okay then let's go tight end you got a guy who's been around for a while like G Scott and what I like about the tight end room is you got a 66 monster some people think he may be closer to 67 and galani tank Thurman out of Lon Hughes in Atlanta which I'm very familiar with that school he is a freak of nature and a heck of a ball player he came in last year he got his uh black strike removed uh fairly early didn't have the season that he wanted to have and then you cons you just saw him consistently stacking days and stacking days and you hear the reports out of Columbus saying this guy's going to be a player well that's your third string guy depending on what formation you're in that just kind of speaks to the dep that Ohio state has then you go into a veteran offensive line you bring in a guy like Seth McGloin from uh from Alabama tons of starting experience then you got a guy like Josh FR who's been there for a while you got Donovan Jackson who could have left and went to the League last year so you have a really solid offensive line and who are these guys blocking for probably the best Back Field in the country when you consider trayon Henderson who's already proven that he can do it alone but now you don't just bring in a third down back you just don't bring in a g Gat back you bring in quinan jins who led the SEC and rush in the past two years they are absolutely loaded and that's just the offense we're not even going to defense hold up start the defense with Jack Sawyer who could have left last year probably would have been at least a day two pick possibly day one depending on how the draft roll and how they performed but you you start out with a guy like Jack Sawyer then you got to Hamilton you get a guy like Tek Williams who has who really has Sunday potential and I think he's another guy who probably could have left last year and been at least a day two pick then you come back with jt2 allo excuse me if I butchered it I promise you let let's just call him JT just to make sure I'm okay then you got a guy like JT that's your defensive line that you're just rolling out any team in the country I guarantee you that these guys could start that like you don't every guy on that defensive line could probably go start or make an impact on 85 to 90% of the rosters in the country then you talk about a guy like Sunny Styles the freak of nature the guy who has safety speed but hits like a linebacker then after you go there you got a guy like Cody Simon the like he's old enough he's he's a guy that when we talk about guys you want in the locker room you want a guy with a mustache you want somebody who's a little old a little longer than to to kind of bring that fun when it comes down to those third and short or those four and short situations that's the the type of guy that you're sending out there at the inside linebacker spot then zel B I mean and on top of after you go Denzel Burke at corner then you go Ransom at the other safety then you go arguably the best college football player in the country depending on who you ask in Caleb DS that should be enough that roster right there should be enough for people to say man that's a team that I would not want to play then from there you don't stop there because your roster is loaded and you're in a win Now situation you got to go recruit and nobody in the country is recruiting better than Ohio State Ohio state has four five stars right now 16 four stars right now that's incredible 21 blue chippers let's take a look at that class you're already loaded quarterback and on top of that you're going to bring in five star tavien St CL St Clair excuse me who is a very physically imposing quarterback when you look at it when you 63 goes around 225 230 he's a guy that can do a little bit of everything if you want him to run some quarterback power he's going to be a threat in the RPO he has a cannon for arm you got him that's willing to come in and wait his turn then you think about the quarterbacks that you're bringing in the top quarterback class in the country two of the top 10 two of the top 10 players in the country at corner at the same position when you talk about a guy like Devin Sanchez who stands 62 175 pounds track speed really great in coverage and on the other side you got that physically imposing corner and Naim offer who may be a tad shorter but man I haven't seen anybody in the country that has the short area burst that Naim offer has so now you've got bookends at cornerback where you can play whatever you want to do you know what send zero Blitz will be okay in the back zero Blitz we ain't tripping all right but then you go to the linebacker room then you got two you got two more cornerstones when you talk about a guy like TJ Alford out of Florida and then you pair him with a guy like Riley pedon two running hit linebackers that you can that you don't have to take off the field on third down because both of these guys can run really really well and on the back end you go with baheem Delaine I mean Carter low on offensive line you miss on a guy like David Sanders but we all forget about they already have Carter low who's a top 30 player in the country who who who really when you look at the body size when you look at the the the the the frame that he has he could play inside or out and it he's a nightmare if you wanted to run right behind him if you put him at right tackle nightmare but he has the footwork to play left tackle so it doesn't really matter where you go with Carter low he's still a fivar type guy not even to talk like like not even talking about the receivers because you still got high fourstar Quincy Porter on the way in Zahir Mattis is somebody that I think nobody is talking about but Zahir Mattis at the edge is somebody that I think can really have an opportunity to make an early impact and you don't just have him at the edge you also bring in a guy like Zion Grady and when you talk about Zahir Mattis he's a guy I mean I think he's probably about six sck you got the length that you want in order to play however you want to play if he wants to stand somebody up and go long arm he can but he also has the ability to bend he has the lower Bend IN in order for him to get around the edge I mean this class is loaded not even to talk about the running backs Bo Jackson I mean I mean with a name like that do we even have to talk about it so I'm not just going to go all the way into the recruiting class it's just a high level pitch but when you look at the current roster and you look at the recruiting class there is not another team in the country that is more prepared to make a run at the type of Dynasty type uh teams that we've seen like the Alabama of the world this type of roster is the type of team that you can continuously see that there's a pipeline of players that you're always going to be in every game really based off athleticism now it's up to coach Ryan day and Company to get those guys where they need to be but how is all this happening why is everybody just coming to Columbus they're recruiting with a national imprint you got guys from I I mean you when you look even to the 26 class you go as far west as Cali you bring it all the way back to New Jersey you go far south to Florida you're in Georgia in bama you're in the midwest I call Columbus the Magical Kingdom why do you call du why do you call it the the the the Magical Kingdom because how do you lose the Michigan three times in a row and then get more serious about your roster I mean a lot of times people and we hear people calling for jobs but how often do guys take those type of losses or teams have those type of losses and get better and I mean not even just incrementally better they are getting better and better and better the classes are now know number one I mean it is insane but you got to start with the staff and I think the staff that's been put together in Columbus is a very special one you talk about Ryan day and I think um one thing about Ryan day he has a certain Synergy with his coaches and I uh I I like to point to his relationship with uh offensive line coach Justin fry guys who worked together previously I mean they I think they go all the way back to Boston College or uh I I can't remember the exact school but I think it's uh BC but they have years and years of experience together so the Run game coordinator knows what the offense of gu with the with the Juggernaut what the what what the head coach is already thinking you take a guy like that and then you mix him with the the receiving uh the receiving coach and the co- offensive coordinator Brian Hartline who is that the top room in the country year after year after year the NFL is littered with Brian Harline recruits and then even if you want to flip over and you go to the defensive side of the ball I think the the the the same energy that Brian Harline brings with the name recognition and the type of RS that he puts out and the NFL Talent you get that same thing with Larry Johnson Larry Johnson is putting up Edge rushers and defensive lineman in the league almost every year and now you're seeing him recruit at that level where he's bringing in multiple Edge guys in the same class and man OG Tim Walter I interviewed Naim alord U really familiar with his family and the way they talk about OG Walt that's what they call him OG Walt as you guys know OG Walt I was at on three um nil the the on3 nil Summit and one of the families that uh that I was stationed with for dinner was the offers now purely coincidence and I don't think that the people are on three knew that I had a prior relationship with those guys because there are a lot of guys from Atlanta that I felt like they probably would have put me with but they put me with this family I'm just looking at Naim just going through his phone and we're talking and he's showing me stuff and I just see the amount of stuff that he has sent he's like oh I'm gonna tell coach about this oh I gotta tell a Coach about this I'm thinking he's talking to his high school coach I'm looking in his phone it's Tim Walter the relationships that he's building with these guys and and guess who else was at the table D Sanchez and Devin Sanchez and pop Sanchez so when you're hearing one guy talk about Walt now they're sharing stories Walt told me this and Walt told me that you got to give a shout out to the job recruiting that OG T walson is doing now I want to go back to why I call it the Magical Kingdom because I think that the magic created after those losses in order to band together and say we're going to take this chip on our shoulder we're going to break it up and we and the new ad I lose this name but the new ad comes in he has the meeting with Ryan day and they and Ryan Day lays out his plan and they say you know what now it's time to go execute because the roster didn't get that way just because of the recruiting that they did out of the high school level they went to the transfer portal and got the who's who I mean you literally go get Seth mclin from Alabama you get Caleb DS from Alabama you get Julian sa from Alabama quinine jins from Old Miss he say come up here do you know how hard that is to get guys like that in one place that is an incredible Hall and you're for a team that didn't have a lot of talent they those just those players alone would raise the level of play for a middling team it's almost how Dion said I'm bringing my Louis luggage when he was speaking on Travis Hunter and shadur and the guys that he was bringing from Jackson State to Colorado well I guess Ohio State went shopping for Gucci because that's what they did they came South I guess they went to Rodeo Drive not not Rodeo they went to Ocean Drive and they said you know we're going south and we want the best luggage they got here we want all designer and that's what they brought because there aren't I think the two best players of college football I will probably have to give it to Travis Hunter and Caleb DS Travis Hunter probably has the edge because he's played more offense but as you here in the conversation that I'll have with Coach Gary DS you may see Caleb DS get that rock this year and if he does what I know he's capable of doing with the ball in his hands he could take that mental from Caleb uh excuse me from Travis Hunter but right now I got these guys neck and neck I think they're both phenomenal players but yeah I just wanted to start off and just say look if you're an Ohio State fan you've got every reason in the world to be excited because of what's on the field and when I talk about coaches excuse me I'd be remiss if I didn't mention not just the cooc but you bring in Chip Kelly the head coach from UCLA as a offensive coordinator what who does that who goes and gets an off who goes and gets a head coach who's happy with this job who has a top quarterback and says n you know what screw it I'm going to Ohio State as a offensive coordinator what Ohio State that's why I call it a Magical Kingdom so and as long as they continue to stack these classes I think that name is going to continue to fit so it's going to be a really interesting year in Columbus and I think that it is national championship orust for the Bucky all right now let's get to it this guy has been an NFL player excuse me a college player who got recruited played at NC State went to the NFL played for multitude of teams then has two NFL Sons one that's there and one that is surely Barn injury on the way and we're talking about none other than coach Gary DS here live on the five star Flex I've got a very special treat for the five-star Flex today I've got coach Gary DS father of Caleb DS father of Josh DS father of Cameron DS former NFL player former college coach coach DS what's going on and what's up Dukes glad to be here man hey I'm so glad you're here all right let's get right into it coach you're the father of three division one athletes you had Cameron who uh your daughter who played soccer at kenesa State Josh who's currently tearing up for the uh Indianapolis Coast who played at North Carolina and Caleb who may be the best player in college football depending on how you ask how did your experience as a college athlete help you shape their experience as a father well I went through the recr recruting scene back in the late 80s early 90s and even though the technology has changed really had in the media of the situation really hasn't changed coaches building relationships with you uh you going to the school narrowing your list based off academics playing style coaching style uh opportunity to develop to the next level and then academics and going on to matriculating Beyond college so I went through that process as a player myself and then when I became a college coach I went through that process and even helped my brother who coaches over at New Manchester when he was a high school athlete being recruited I helped him uh get recruited so I've been through it learned a lot from it and definitely when I get into it with my kids that list where I said look what matters to you you know academically does this school have your major uh playing time will you have a chance to play uh looking at the style of play the coaching style development to the next level and then matriculation graduation so I make these pros and cons lists with them because I've been doing it over the years and that's sort of how we approached it always in pros and cons and lastly we said go where you want it there's an entire difference between being celebrated and being tolerated always go where you want it cuz we're in a we're we're in a brand new landscape with nil how have you seen nil of impact recruiting from the time that you were being recruited to the time your brother was being recruited to the time your children were being recruited well when I was playing college football it was uh there was no nil if anything there was a brown bag or something like that um that wasn't involved in my recruitment but I remember when I was in high school at one of my basketball games my dad said hey there's a guy up there from a bank and he's a alumni of such and such college and he pretty much said uh if you go there you can get like you know a Visa card something like that and I just remember like oh that's amazing you know but I it didn't happen and my mother said look if anybody ever offer you money it's between you and God never say anything but it wasn't really a big factor when I was in school but my um during my college coaching career the nil World dropped and that's when Josh was a sophomore when nil first took place the portal had just opened up and so immediately going in sophomore year started filling calls from marketing reps saying they wanted to represent Joshua and it was like who are these guys and what can they do and we signed with one rep and we got to learn the landscape and he got a couple deals and then obviously with Caleb coming along nil was in place and it was more involved with his recruitment cuz before with Josh it wasn't involved in his Recruitment and so me being on a college level I was at the FCS level nil didn't touch us we were just losing people we could lose people but we weren't gaining it was never a conversation because we had no money to pay anybody anything if we use nil and the FCA sense we would use it to try to keep one of our returning starters we didn't really use it never as an inducement we lost players to other schools that can pay nil but when my kids are sort of like hey you always put the main thing the main thing is academics your Player Development what you're going to do on the field where would you go to school if you weren't playing ball and once you've narrowed it down to your last three or four schools then you talk nil and talk shop on that because you do have to take care of that business before you sign on the doted line you can't sign on dot line and then want to talk business you got to talk that business beforehand all right coach you played at NC State how difficult was it for you to realize that Joshua was going to North Carolina I cried literally I cried so uh so I basically took Josh to and all the kids to NC State football and basketball games their grandparents live right there in Raleigh so they were very acquainted my wife went NC State and so he was a Wolfpack kid he had a little Wolfpack uniform when he was five or six years old and then you know they offered him early in his you know before his freshman year and this is a this is a crazy thing but once I had this dream about it was involving Michael Jordan and I remember in the dream thinking like what is this about and this was about a year and a half before uh Josh actually you know committed to Carolina and then during January I was out recruiting I was in Savannah Georgia about to go into recruits house and my brother-in-law Dre blly called me now Dre was retired from the NFL he had gone to Carolina and he calls me he like what's up G I'm like what up Dre and he's like man ma Brown just took the job back at Carolina I'm like so I don't care and then he says he hired me as a DB coach and I said oh crap like that's like because Dre is their Uncle my wife and Dre's wife are sisters and they grown up with Uncle Dre being their uncle and when he went to Carolina I said oh brother it's on so Josh went to visit State on the way back he visited Dre and Mack at Carolina and his you know my wife called me said hey Josh wants you to ride back with him to Carolina on a visit next weekend and I once I got there I understand division what they were putting forth some of the things they could say they could do for him far as development wise coach Longo and the receiver coach Galloway and then at that point I understood I still cried literally on the way me and Caleb were going to a banquet uh for borne to compete and that's when Josh committed and it just hurt me and my wife said why don't you tell him you can't go I said no I can't tell him you can't go because God has already showed me that's where he's supposed to be so I got to let it be amen Coach K is considered to be one of the best college football players in the country and they use the word generational I know a lot of times we love to use that GW but it seems like it really fits him when did you realize he was special when Caleb was six years old that was his first year playing we went to the Jamboree and he ran the ball about five or six times every time he touched was a touchdown and Josh said oh it's just six-year-old football it's going to get tougher but by the end of the year he had 46 t touchdowns and his team won the championship right here in gwet county and during the championship game he had 15 carries for 336 yards seven touchdowns and 15 tackles and I was in the stands with my wife and Josh and I just looked down I said I I'm looking at a pro football player literally at six years old because he could do things skill levelwise and understanding wise that adults guys in high school can't do I saw him line up at linebacker at 6 years old and move the defensive tackle from a three technique to a one technique somebody would come on the field and he would put them in their position so his understanding his IQ was so high even at a young age and then when you talking about his work ethic he literally could go to practice I would be at Josh's practice put Caleb on the sideline and just stay there till your practice and he would make his own practices up he would make the drills up just like we were doing and so he's been doing adult protype thing since he was a little boy um his demeanor he scored touchdown he did that walkoff off and then flip the ball to the referee like Barry Sanders I mean he's been like that since he was six it's sort of a god-given things he works at it he learned his work ethic from Josh but a lot of it is just god-given and he's just been that way he's he's got that that Elite mindset I remember when he was playing basketball one year about seven years old he's at a on the free throw line end of the game he's shooting one and one to seal out his game and he gives a three you know three dribbles at the three throw line Bam Bam Bam and then he spins the ball and then you see him take this deep breath oh wow he just drops it you talking about a seven-year old like I didn't teach him that it's just it's just been in him and his leadership skills have just grown and grown with his ability to play the game other position but also his leadership skills to bring up his teammates to other levels and understand I had a coach the other day I heard say he had one of the best football Minds in the world but W I've heard that from his High School coaches like his level of football IQ is not fans kids can't understand his football mind how he sees ball and what he understands because he when he go on recruiting visits back in high school he would talk with coaches for hours like hours and it wasn't at some point they would just sit hey let's just talk ball what do you see how do you because he just gets it he would come home from school at mil Creek and just finish practice and he might Zoom with an Alabama then come back and zoom with a Georgia then Zoom with Ohio State and I would say how are you keeping all these defenses separate and still learning your defense he's I got him good so literally he's learning like four different languages at the same time it's all football but he learned it all man that's incredible coach speaking of Mill Creek when he graduated Mill Creek he goes to Alabama what was it that Nick Sav said to you as a father and also a coach that sold you on a crimson tide at the time it was all about Nick I mean we sat in a lot of coaches offices over the years and and he was that one coach that myself my wife Caleb we sat in his office and like you know kids like waiting at the principal's office or like waiting to get somebody to tell you what your life Destiny is he I mean he's a legendary coach his understanding of the game from a defensive standpoint as a defensive coordinator DB coach because he was the best DB coach arguably there's ever been but also his understanding on how to build culture was so unique and myself being a coach I was just taking notes just trying to glean any bit of information and Caleb wanted to play for Nick I mean and so I mean I'm going to tell you about another dream it's like one time I had a dream and Caleb in the dream was at Alabama's camp and in the camp he went through the camp and in the dream Caleb said I can learn something from him and Nick came over and dream and said he's not ready yet but he's going to be ready and so it's like that's really where it's always been for Caleb can't who can help prepare him to keep improving who can take him and develop him to the next level and Nick was that guy that had that level understanding the right demeanor and Caleb and Nick are as Teran Arnold said they were the most alike between player coach than anybody else on that team like the way they think the way they process information Caleb sat beside Nick in every meeting and that was probably Caleb's doing he wanted to be right by him to hear him to get the nuances the inflections in his voice everything because he like man that guy knows how to do it and knows understand and I want to know that so it was an easy decision um because I was a coach and I value coaching and I value preparation and Nick just was the embodiment I mean he's the best of all time so the opportunity to play for him was like you know what it Trump if Nick had been at Marshall and like you know what I had choose Marshall all right coach when coach s retired everybody figured that Caleb was a locked to go to ug what was it about Ohio state that saw damle on Columbus well Ohio state was number two during his high school recruitment it was really 1 a and 1B between Alabama Ohio State and then Georgia and Notre Dame were three and four and so what happened is right before he committed he called we called AIO State and it was a difficult phone call when he called Ohio State back in high school and they end up coming down on a Friday prior to sign a day and it was a hard thing to tell him like coach we really like everything about how state but we're going to Bal and he like we don't understand I said well listen we trust God God has led us to this decision we l we're going to obey him and I said but there's nothing you could have done differently because we really like everything we like your coaches we understand what you're doing scheme wise we like the whole program Jean Smith the ad that you know Columbus we like it all the tradition and they were it was it was a painful conversation so a year later to be in that same situation when Nick retires you know that's not that's I was sitting right in the same seat when Nick when ni announcement came up that Nick retired my phone was turned over I didn't know it I flipped my phone over I've got 30 or 40 messages I missed all these phone calls and what's going on and Nick retired and my heart dropped and it's like your world been turned upside down and it's like oh man not not this you know when Caleb committed to Bama Charles Kelly who was a recruiting coach at Bama the safety coach the next day after signing coach Kelly went to Colorado before Spring ball Pete golden left and then they hired Kevin steel at the end the rosebowl Kevin still retired and then Nick retired then a few days later T Rob announced he was leaving to go to Georgia it was a painful thing but at that point it was like okay Caleb what do you want to do we prayed on it he said I you know we wanted to wait to see who they were going to hire at Bama every coach The head coach DC DB coaches and at that point he said I want to go in the portal uh and it's like his reason for going there was Nick he definitely values and appreciate everything he learned from Nick and Bama it was I mean we I mean we love B you see Bama Jersey right there I mean no nothing gets B just like I'm ready for a different experience I'm ready to grow be beyond that uh Caleb is I believe as you say generational talent I call it Transcendent he has Transcendent abilities beyond the place you know he played high school at mil Creek but before that he was at pach Ridge and he did the same thing at mil Creek that he had done at pach Ridge and I we had heard coach say don't go to mil Creek if you go to mil Creek you won't be as good he won't develop he won't get power five offers and it's like I didn't believe that because I said Isaac dad as a coach I'll supplement anything he needs to get developmentally wise but they also understood they didn't understand Caleb they didn't understand the things that he was interested in doing but they didn't understand him as a ball player and they didn't understand him as a person so if he want to go toio State and like I said we prayed about it ask God and waited and we trust God on that movement and he's there and things are going well and I don't I think that was the best place for him to be for a lot of reason you know it's like a whole whole round encompassing Reason Not One Singular reason not like just going to the pros because someone said well Caleb why are you taking all these hard classes you going to the NFL because Caleb has interest Beyond just football and some of them are academic and some of them social so he's you know he's a whole person not just an athlete what was head coach Ohio State head coach Ryan day's reaction to the news that Caleb DS was coming well first of all when Caleb finally made the decision we tried to call Coach day but he was on an airplane so we had to wait like two hours and while we were waiting the Georgia coaches were you know talking to Caleb and it reminded me when they were talking to Caleb I was around but I didn't engage in the conversation I wasn't in Caleb's ear but I was listening to what was going on and I sat there and for a while I thought I ought to engage and reminded me when Caleb was like six years old playing the football game he he was on defense and he sat the quarterback and the quarterback was hurt the other team's coach came out tended to his quarterback Caleb was taking a knee and the other coach turned around and start cussing Caleb out I was in the booth and thought about man I need to come down there and get that coach but I just watched Caleb like man he's got this and so while in those two hours when the Georgia coaches were working Caleb over trying to tell him he was wrong blah blah blah it's like if he can hold up to that you know some really good coaches really good recruiters then that's where he really wants to go and he mean two straight hours of talking to different Georgia coaches and he still and I L said hey do you understand he's like yes I want to go to Ohio State and we called coach day man he was just elated I mean he probably couldn't believe it because obviously we had turned him down as a prom date the year before that so he's probably like what in the world but it's it's good man I mean Ryan coach dve has been the same guy from the first day we met him in recruiting to right now he never changed in that process the same guy man that that that's an awesome story so we're talking about the transfer portal how crazy was it and if you can share what was the craziest promise or something that somebody said to try to get Caleb to come to school well somebody promised that I wouldn't be sitting here that I'd be coaching with them so that's prob crazy promise I mean we've had a lot of other crazy stuff but some people come at like that you know like you know when you're Co when you're trying to recruit kids you're looking for Advantage like you're looking for advantages on the field everything within the rules and I was a coach so someone had some people say hey come coach with us I've had people offer other other incentives but it's like in the end I was always going to do what's best for Caleb when I was coaching high school ball I always said that I would never go somewhere to coach by getting a job because of Caleb and I would never bring Caleb to where I was to keep a job either and so in the recruitment or nil all that stuff it was never about me it's not about what you can do for me or do for my wife you know give her a college uh College college profess job was it's never about that you know people always ask us do you guys live in Columbus like no we don't live in Columbus we live in Georgia because Caleb's at school not us um he's our son and we don't want to put undue pressure you know the Lord has blessed us to provide for our living we don't want to have to say hey Caleb you got to support us too while you're trying to be a student athlete and go to school and play ball you don't need to worry about us so I what is best for us as a mom and dad that never enter into an equation and so yeah someone said he you know we'll make you uh you know the governor of some State maybe n but other than that coach has Caleb given any thought to playing both sides of the ball at Ohio State that thought is you know Caleb started youth football he was playing running back and linebacker and then eventually in the eighth grade there was some talk about him playing DB and we saw he had some skills there and so entering college or in the recruitment process there were a couple programs Ohio State being one of them that talked about him playing running back and possibly returner and stuff like that and so when he got to College of B they said hey let's just focus on DB and then we get once you can master that we'll talk about some of the other things and then that's how the punt return conversation came up due to due to necessity well in this part there has been talk about him playing running back little bit of slot uh and punt returner he's a football player he loves to play football and I mean you give you an example we went to a camp after covid when he was in high school and this was an elite camp Camp Caleb was playing DB I look up and Caleb done flipped over and started playing wide out against the next best DB in the camp I like what are you doing like I'm thinking like don't do that you're G to mess this up and he bowled out at that we went to the Bama camp and he played Safety but he also played Nickel Dime and both Corner positions free I'm like you know you don't go there to a camp like that and start playing other positions but that's what he did he literally went to Bama's camp and played five six positions in the secondary during seven on seven and so this kid is a competitor he's got a competitor's mindset he believes he's very confident he works on his skills he understands what people are doing in different positions so when someone they said hey we're we're down a quarterback we need Caleb to be our emergency quarterback that wouldn't surprise me because he just he probably understands it and he probably believes he can do it so it's just powerful the course with Caleb all right coach let's do a little bit of role play I'm the NCAA L clearer house Coast downs we need you to help us clean up the transfer portal what is your suggestion for us to make the the process go smoother I think players need some advisement before they go in I think um players understanding what their opportunities are I think it needs to be allow players before they jump in because when they jump in the portal and I'm not talking about players like Caleb that have options I'm talking about players that are like I'm not playing a lot or I think I should try my hand at a from a FCS to G5 or G5 to power five before they jump in I think some level of advisement needs to go for Consulting to let this player know what's out there for him opportunity wise because some players jump in and and about 60% of players that jump in don't go anywhere they also the NCAA needs to look at the fact that there are players being forced out of scholarships everybody that goes in the portal is not going in willingly there are players that at the end of the spring or end of the season are told to get in the portal soort of like Dion said I got luggage and this Louie he pushed those guys in the portal I think the idea that if you get pushed in the portal you say you know what coach I want to remain in my school I want to stay on scholarship there are some schools that cannot afford to have you on the sideline not playing ball but on scholarship so I think the NCAA needs a handle on their end to make sure it's clear that all players are not willingly going to Port some are being pushed and I know the fans don't care about that but there are players more players are being pushed pushed in the portal then there are willingly going in the portal I think the dates they need to they need to work on the dates of when people can enter the portal cuz at the end of the football season there's only a small window for players to enter the portal and transfer when Caleb went the portal it was only like a couple days before the drop ad of the school situation happened so he had to make a decision within about 48 hours so that the timing at the end of December January is not good the spring timing is a little bit better but I think the dates could help but I do think there needs to be some consultation before players get in it to give players an opportunity sort of like in basketball m in basketball you declare for the NF for the NBA you don't get drafted you can come back I think players need the opportunity to be able to look or at least consult to find out what the interest is before they jump their name in the portal they put their name in the portal then they're gone they're out of a scholarship and that's my primary concern is about the players that are getting pushed out and they're on the street no education no home an answer coach speaking and what I gleaned from that answer was education is something that you believe heavily in absolutely and you know Caleb you know he's a he's a business major my daughter she's a pre-ad major Josh was a business major he end up going to sports management but my wife's educator you know she's me and her met at NC State she went to Georgia Tech education's always been a primary motivation Life Education continuing education but also in school and the opportunity and things you learn in school and the life skills you develop in school are they're pivotal and so so some to find that a player play ball and he ends up on the street it's like dang you know I I hate for that to happen that's why I said consultation and understanding that some players are being pushed in the portal they're being pushed out we need that scholarship back that's a that's a tough thing because I known some players that get get pushed out and then end up on the wrong end of that equation no absolutely So speaking of Education what tools or uh Avenues did you use to educate yourself on well uh well when it first started like I said Josh was in Josh was at UNCC and I was at East Tennessee State and so I was getting all the legislation from the NCAA about the rules what colleges could and couldn't do what were uh inducements and basically how to report all these things so at that point it was more so when the marketing reps independent marketing reps or marketing companies from Agents when they would come and reach out that I learned from them about what was opportunities what were available so I give you an example if someone said hey Dukes we're going to give you $10,000 for an autograph session memorabilia session it's really not about the $10,000 it's really about how much is it per signature like are you getting $7 a signature $10 $20 or signature and then there's exclusive contracts I learned about if you sign with one marketing company and you do memorabilia or cards you might can't sign another marketing deal for memorabilia or cards for 90 days or for a year and so learning those details the line items what you can and can't do uh what shirt you can wear like I can take a photo but I can't have one that says Ohio State on it all those nuances I learned going through the process because I've been involved I mean Josh and Caleb are playing ball and we were fortunate enough to hire uh EXL management to to manage their marketing but I'm still involved because when deals come about it's like is is this a deal that you guys would take are you interested and so we try to find organic deals you know products that they would eat already you know we don't necessar want to Market a product we wouldn't eat or you know cologne you wouldn't wear like you know I'm not going to Market a cologne I wouldn't wear or clothing that I wouldn't wear so trying to find things that are organic things that are connected to their their interest and then also time TimeWise if it conflicts with practice schedule school schedule I got to fly out of town and Miss workouts I can't do that um so those are type of things that I've learned and then looking over those details I mean I get a lawyer um EXL has M marketing they have a legal department so whenever a contract comes through is first Les yes no but then we got to look at the line item and see okay how much is this paying how much is it requiring of us because they are deliverables meaning that if I take this contract do I have to post every day do I have to post once a month do I have to do videos some of them require like two and three hour video sessions you know every six months so lot of a lot of those things are you have to consider uh as well uh and then there's also the relationship thing you sign with one company you know is it a relationship is it longterm is there is there going to be another contract and then how does this nil marketing agreement when I when I end up on that image or that commercial how does it represent me what does it say I'm about and so we also consider those things but I've learned a lot it's still ongoing Josh is in NFL and he has him and Kell have the same marketing repres representation we s to keep it all in the house um very fortunate very very fortunate cuz you don't want multiple marketing reps at first Josh had multiple but problem is if you have more than one marketing rep out there in the in the market they could both call Coca-Cola and then Coca-Cola say hey Mr DS we just got a call from from a over here but we also got a call from B uh who are you working with so it's important that everybody be on the same page uh in that regard it's also important for your marketing rep to have relationship ship with your financial advisor because when you get paid from marketing you want that money to go to your financial advisor and also your agent so for Josh marketing rep financial advisor and agent all tied in for Caleb his marketing rep and financial they talk that way we know and when it's time for tax season you got paid for this much for doing this let's say rowback deal that money came in how much taxes it do because you want everybody to be on the same page so you're covering your basis so as a pops my job is you know to make sure they're prepared to get out in front of things like that uh in this business of marketing and agents and all that stuff I always I have three C's I said my job is to find the people that are competent with character and the ones that are competent with character if there's five of them whichever one you connect with best you got it buddy you can go with them but my job find the ones that got competence and character as a father what do you tell your boys about the NFL experience well everybody knows it's not for long but one thing one thing I learned is that in any goal you're set in life you put that Vision that goal that aspiration and then you basically formulate a process to reach it so Caleb and Josh wanted to make it NFL so basically they you know Josh want to be a great receiver and Cayla want to be a great DB is it okay that's my goal I I want to get there but then a higher aspiration goal is I want to be Hall of Famer I want to be the greatest of all time so it's one thing to say I want to get there but my mindset was like I need to push the it need you to reach higher set a higher goal and then let's formulate a process of how to keep improving how to get better immersing them with the right trainers right coaches um the right mentors there's other people in this business that know far more than I do about playing receiver or playing DB so even in offseason like okay when the SE off season's over who can we get with to train you can learn more exes than o take care of your body who we need to go through for offseason training all those things they've been doing since they were little kids so now like Josh when the season ended he said Dad this is my plan I'm going here to do my training I'm here to do my rehab I'mma go on vacation for a couple days but I'mma train with so and so I'm I mean literally but it's all leading to the same thing and then of course the idea of creating some generational wealth and like for Caleb it's like you know the money I make from this you know obviously I hope it's enough to live on forever but at the same time I want to go into real estate you know so it's like the NFL is also a platform for other things not everybody plays in NFL and that's all they ever do the rest of their life and some people even if you have the option to never do another job they want to do other things and so Caleb has other interests after football and Jos as well but football in the NFL is a tremendous opportunity it's a blessing there is no entitlement none because like I played in NFL my brother-in-law Dre played in NFL Joshua's Godfather Mike playing NFL so Josh and Caleb have grown up you know Terence matys Bob Whiffle I mean Jamal Anderson my kids have grown up around guys in the pros my one of my high school teammates Randy Fuller played in the league so they're used to seeing people in the league and they know it's possible yet and still it's not an entitled it's not a guarantee so they know what it takes to get there and they know they're blessed as long as they can stay there coach you're a former Falcon you see the you see the helmet I'm from College Park coach what do you think the Falcons are going to do this year man I see the Falcons going about 12 and five making the playoffs let's go yeah I think they're gonna do it this year I've been out there several times they got all the elements I think coach Raheem Morris has got those guys motivated I know he's going to have them ready scheme wise but I think the energy and the motivation is there I think they tapped in I don't think it's win or bust you know few years ago when the Falcons went you know made it Super Bowl and then all a sudden they made this thing well it's winter bus that's always a dangerous string Psy logically because you need your players to focus on the process of getting to the goal and not the goal in itself and if they don't reach it then all of a sudden it's like like Ricky Bobby say you know either either your first or your last whenever you had that kind of mindset man it's bad because you you just stress yourself out but I like the elements you know bringing in Kurt cousin I talked to president Beatles of the Falcons about them read bringing in my man for man look Michael penck for the future but he's also there and so I look at them from scouting Department evaluating from the general manager down also what they do on the field but I believe they have the players they have all the ingredients of a playoff team they put things together uh but that also that quarterback position is pivotal and they got two quarterbacks that can get it done right now all right coach when the news broke about Caleb transferring it didn't come from this from from the the the usual sources it came from dece recruiting yeah coach talk to me about that Venture and how excited you are about it well uh I'm a obviously coached by trade been coaching for 20 plus years coached High School College NFL Europe did internship with the Falcons I also on that do FCA here in gnet County but because I was a recruiting coordinator in college I'm used to evaluating talent that's what I did I was a recruiting coordinator I did a scouting internship with the Falcons so I've been evaluating talent for a long time and so when I years ago when Caleb was six years old Alex Benson with born to compete came to me and said hey we we're nominating Caleb for our six player of the year for the state of Georgia I'm like what are you talking about sixu player of the year there's no such thing well we went down to NBC Studios that year Caleb won sixu Player of the Year years later Caleb won Player of the Year and Josh won wide received the year and so in 2023 K Alex kyman hey I got this other Venture douche recruiting that I want to kick off the ground and I want you to head it up I want you to evaluate and ranked players and ranked teams and I said you know what I'm game for it so in this douche recruiting world I said you know Caleb's in the portal what what are the chances and the opportunities you going to have in life to break the news and so what I did in that was when Caleb finally decided he was going in the portal I did call other media sources I knew and I said listen the moment I know I'm going to let you know and so what I did was I released it on Deuce but I also let other media Outlets whether it's Pete tho or ESPN a sports illustrator I said I might as well take this one opportunity to get out there because it is news and I know it before others I'm not going to release it I didn't release it the day before I released it literally if if you look at Pete th's post it's within like a minute because they knew as well but I said you know what I might as well not cheat myself on this one because I do know it and it is a business yeah absolutely all right coach before we get out of here oh and add to that next time you gotta call me too coach all right well I call you too before we get out of here Josh Indianapolis coachs Caleb Ohio State Buckey what constitutes a successful season for both your boys independently well for them independently you know obviously we just pray God's mercy that they be healthy and I know if they're healthy you know the if God open up Windows the opportunity to play you know for for Joshua I mean he wants to be prolific I mean he wants to catch a 100 passes he wants to have you know 1,200 yards receiving and probably 10 plus touchdowns and for the Colts to make the make the make the playoffs you know for them to go you know 12 and 12 and 5 13 and 4 something like that regular season that's what I look for their program and for Caleb I mean for him obviously he wants to have a tremendous year at H State wants H state to win win the Big 10 but for him you're talking about being a leader on that defense I can't put a number on interception but I know he'll probably want at least four or five I would say he probably he doesn't want to have a 100 tackles because you don't want your safety making that but I would say he probably wants 60 to 70 uh probably call three or four fumbles make all all big 10 make all American probably he wants to win in nersi or the Thorp War I was I mean he has lofty goals but it's like those goals are in reach because of his process and because of the teammates around him all those things and so he's not aiming for those goals it's just step by step each day each play so it's one play at a time one day at a time and we just sort of handle it like that and if he just sticks to the process Lord willing those things will work out coach this was going to be a part of my show we went 35 minutes I just want to thank you this this is a standalone man you've been awesome I appreciate you pouring back into the community like you're a really big figure in Atlanta for you to reach back down or or reach back to a guy like me I can't say thank you enough uh where can everybody find you on social media coach I'm coachs Gmail I'm coach Downs gmail.com or Instagram and Twitter I'm coach Downs Gary and obviously you hit me up at dece recruiting if you got a kid out there that you want to promote now I don't promote if they got to be a ball player now if they're a ball player no matter if they're three don't matter what star if I see they play ball I'll talk about them lift them up because I love great ball players I do a thing I call Speak Life and for young people and parents I'm always trying to speak life because that's what God told me to do pour into my kids Speak life and I'm trying to speak life into these young people and these coaches and that's why that's what I enjoy doing man thanks so much Coach man see you next time all right dud thanks for having me all right man if coach DS doesn't get you excited as a Buckey fan I don't know what will man shout out to coach DS man super appreciated man and we'll probably be talking to him later on in the year all right now before we get out of here we're going to bring in fourstar tran odm to talk about why he chose the Ohio State Buckey explosive D linan and Ohio State commit Trent Odum is here on the F star flex and he's going to talk about how he made the cross country trip from LA to North Carolina to play high school football why he committed Ohio State and what the message was from Ryan day that kind of sold him on the Buckey all that and more on the five star Flex I'm here live with fourstar defensive Ling and Ohio State commit Tran Odum Trey what's going on big dog chilling how are you everything's good good good so you're committed to Ohio State the Ohio State University sir what was it like when you knew that you wanted to become a buck eye it was crazy is just talking to my parents my brother too going through that whole process is just when I really locked on that decision and I just knew that's where my future is taking me and where God's taking me it's just amazing feeling just it's always been a school I grew up watching and everything loving Chase young and then the bo the brothers it's just Coach Johnson Coach Dave just they made it seem like home for me so once I really knew I was just set and then locked in with that what was coach Dave's message to you that really sold you on the Buckey uh just a big thing it's just you know he has a team that's just built to win for a couple Seasons championships but also it's just the the city of Columbus and the support that you get in the city is just unmatching like no other just the football the history of it where every coach on the staff has really produced there and then that's just the big selling point he gave me you also spoke about coach Larry Johnson and he has a long line of guys that he's recruited and he and that he's helped develop what sets him apart as a coach in your opinion uh he's just he's kind of like a father figure there's a lot of coaches who recruit and everything but he's like really want to know you your family just your whole family tree he's like a good father figure and then introduce him me to his family and everything that's just a big difference uh that he really sets out with other coaches in my opinion being from North Carolina I'm sure that there was a lot of pressure for you to stay in state yeah what school what okay all right I'm start it over being from North Carolina I'm sure there was a lot of pressure from you to stay I excuse me being from a a all right being from North Carolina I'm sure there was a lot of pressure on you to stay in state what school locally was on you the hardest and was it hardest for you to tell your family and your friends that you weren't staying in state I mean yeah I don't know if you even know I'm actually from Cali oh I didn't know that yeah but but e but to stay in State uh it was NC State for me so okay once I told matter of fact see I a know that you from C what part of Cy you from Englewood LA area hey okay then for sure you already know oh no we F to talk about that then okay cool all right so Trent a lot of people may not know but even though that you play high school football in North Carolina you're actually from the LA area Los Angeles California what was it like making the cross country trip to play to the South to play high school football and what kind of changes did you have to make uh just be with from friends and everything we moved toward my mom's coaching job but it's just pretty big deal difference High School football over there back in back home is big and popular and coming here I say it was it wasn't as tough as physical as much skill but it's still in this Charlotte Area still that dog and hard work over here so it wasn't a big big difference but it's something that you got to really adjust to and everything so as far as where you're from you're from La so I'm I'm pretty sure there was a lot of pressure on you to play football in Cali and then you're in North Carolina I'm pretty sure there's a lot of pressure on you to to want to stay in state in North Carolina how did you block out all of that noise and come to the decision that you wanted to play at Ohio State like at the end of the day uh going back to LA be close to family and everything staying here being close to parents or other friends but at the end of the day for my future I just want I wanted it was like best for me and like what coaches have really put people at my position in the league and then the best of the best was really Coach Johnson in Ohio State and then out of all the schools from LA to the east coast all the way Ohio State just Ohio they just separate thems and then that's really that's the biggest point for me honestly is there any school that some of your family members or people close to you wanted you to go to real bad outside Ohio State um for sure over here in the uh East Coast was definitely honestly UNCC but back home is USC so okay every if I stayed in the west USC is the move for sure was it hard for you to have that conversation with your family and friends and let them know that you were going to Ohio State it was pretty tough but at the end of the day they understand they know what best for me it's just I just really got to explain to them that it still be great being close to family and everything but for my future they can all come see me play and everything and just one was best for me so yeah so Tran you shot up the rankings and on three like right now you're a top 160 player and you got potential to go even higher what's it been like for you to get that recognition in your game and to finally kind of be sto for and and to finally not be slept on as much as you were before uh it's been it's been great it's been amazing like honestly before like this past couple years I've been kind of like not underlooked but like a lot of the ranking sources that haven't been looking at me because North Carolina not the biggest attention but now that I'm starting to get that recognition I think I deserve uh it's Bally it's a great feeling I hope at the end of the season uh middle of the season I would definitely shoot up more in dline rcking and then overall ranking so that's what I'm really looking forward to Ohio state is notorious for having wild and crazy fans what's been the coolest part as far as the fan interaction that you've gotten since you've committed oh I say just when I go on my visits my three visits I've been just the city just being around with the the guys the players and everything and just going out just you can just tell somebody you're Ohio State work some Ohio State gear and then it just all up on you so all all types of Fes so it's just amazing feeling and everything have you been able to forge a relationship with anybody that's currently on the team and if so what do they tell you about the Ohio State experience uh a couple guys like you know JT a little bit of Jack Sawyer uh some edri Houston who just came in so those are some of my guys and like Josh and everything but um they just tell me it's just it's tough It's going to be challenging but at the end it's all worth it um coach day uh coach really Coach Johnson and then Coach Clark they both gonna get you right uh if you just listen in the weit room hard work and then put your face down and just work everything's going to turn out good for you so it's just all worth it at and that's the main thing they're telling me so earlier I heard you mention that you moved out with your mom's coaching job what did your mom coach so she was actually coaching at North Carolina Central for like seven years but now she's taking a break off that coaching so she's going to get back into it soon so with your mom being a coach how do how was she able to help you in the recruitment process and how big of a role did she play in it uh she played a big role it's just she know how to see through coaches lies and everything so she's tell me about who's really being honest who's real and everything then so it's my brother who's recruited my dad who played football too so really all three of them just a big part of my recruitment process of all those of of those three who was the first person that you told that you wanted to go to Ohio State my brother always what did he say what was his reaction I mean he honestly he was he been saying Ohio State for the longest just go to Ohio State Ohio State but his reaction he's just finally glad he was like it's time to work now like you chose the place it's just time to work so he was the first person I told him his reaction was perfect and everything what are you looking forward to the most your freshman year in Columbus that's why it's tough I'm probably G to say that first game that first home game atmosphere just running out uh just running out that tunnel just being able to see under the lights and everything all the fans yelling and stuff that's that's going to be a big that's going to be a big day for me so I'm lucky see that first first day my first on field action too so TR where can everybody find you on social media uh so on Instagram you got youngor Habachi with two eyes you got my Twitter uh Tren t r a a j NN and then my Tik Tok is w c KJ a w NN right before we get out of here can you give a message to the Ohio State Buckey fans about about what they're getting when they get Trad and odm man you getting this a movie star a rock star I'm just coming in uh firstman year I'm going go work on that field uh just three to four years and just give y'all my OD so I going get it all from me great D line can play all across the ball and then oh let's go hey man thanks a lot trer of course appreciate it hey so if you like what you just saw make sure you hit the like And subscribe button come on subscribe to the Onre recruits Channel we've got the best content we've got guys like Josh Newberg JD Paquel pops here sometimes Steve Wilfong Chaz Simmons the best in college football recruiting lives here on on three recruits I am Philip Dukes aka duk the scoop the host of the festar flex check me out on Instagram and Twitter at dukd scoop and until next time we'll see you