Ohio State football news: Caleb Downs recalls Matt Patricia’s unexpected challenge

Caleb Downs starred for a former NFL head coach in Matt Patricia before heading to the league. Downs aims to impact the Dallas Cowboys immediately in his rookie season. Yet the recent Ohio State football star recalls one unexpected challenge before launching himself into first round conversations.

Downs revealed this story on his “Downs 2 Business” podcast released Monday. Even he revealed how the ex-Detroit Lions coach and longtime NFL defensive coordinator came with a “weird reputation,” but in a good way per him.

“This dude coached on a lot of Super Bowl teams, so he’s got to be a good coach,” Downs began.

But Downs got placed through an unexpected challenge with the rest of his teammates.

“First day, he got into the meeting and said ‘Hey guys, we’re going to hand out these sheets of paper. I want you to write down the best five players on this defense and the worst,” Downs said.

Downs described the atmosphere with players holding their breaths. While some even wrote their names down as the best.

“Write down the five worst players on defense.” 😵‍💫

Caleb Downs shares the story of the first time Matt Patricia led an Ohio State defensive meeting and challenged the players with some tough questions. 💯 pic.twitter.com/IUhHqLb183

— Downs 2 Business (@downs2business) July 27, 2026

Patricia came over to replace Jim Knowles, who jammed to Big Ten rival Penn State amid rumblings he clashed with OSU head coach Ryan Day. Meanwhile, Patricia arrived as a league flameout. Ohio State garnered criticism for hiring him away.

But Downs and OSU didn’t miss a beat. Patricia produced the nation’s top-ranked defense that surrendered only 9.3 points per game. Yet the Buckeyes fell short of their national championship repeat hopes, falling to Miami in round two of the College Football Playoffs.

Now Patricia is the highest-paid CFB assistant in earning a $3.75 million raise in March.