Ryan Day, Ohio State land former Michigan commit in transfer portal
The Ohio State Buckeyes fell short in the College Football Playoff, losing in the first round to the Ole Miss Rebels and bringing their season to an early end, along with hopes of repeating as national champions.
With the loss, head coach Ryan Day was able to shift focus toward assembling the team for the 2026 season. While the Buckeyes are set to return several key contributors and have a strong recruiting class arriving, they also turned to the NCAA transfer portal over the past two weeks to bolster the roster.
On Thursday, with the transfer portal window nearing its close, Ohio State had a productive day, landing multiple players—one of whom was a former Michigan Wolverines commit.
The Buckeyes added defensive back Cameron Calhoun, who is transferring from Alabama this offseason. Calhoun has spent time at Michigan, Utah, and Alabama during his collegiate career, redshirting along the way, and will now head to his fourth program with two years of eligibility remaining
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Calhoun’s path to Columbus is a unique one, especially as a Cincinnati native. He visited Ohio State in 2022 for its matchup against Michigan, and after the Wolverines’ victory in that game, he ultimately committed to Michigan and even celebrated on the field.
Before that, Calhoun had originally committed to Cincinnati during his high school career but flipped prior to his freshman season.
Regardless, Day had long targeted Calhoun dating back to his high school days, when he was consistently rated as a four-star recruit. Calhoun was the first of two defensive backs Ohio State landed on Thursday, as the Buckeyes also signed Georgia transfer Dominic Kelly.
Over his two seasons at Utah and Alabama, Calhoun totaled 27 tackles and 10 pass deflections. He’ll have a prime opportunity to earn playing time, as the Buckeyes are losing multiple key defensive backs from this season’s roster, most notably Caleb Downs and Davison Igbinosun.
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