For Caden Curry, a star defensive lineman for Center Grove (Ind.) High School, there was a time when he admits he was nervous to talk to coaches or the media who came out to Greenwood to talk with him.
When you’re being approached by someone you’ve never met before who wants to shower you with questions about your recruitment, Curry says it can produce a bit of anxiety.
That’s not the case anymore. When Eleven Warriors hopped onto Center Grove’s field at the impressive confines of Ray Skillman Stadium on Wednesday morning, it was Curry approaching us to talk instead of the other way around – all 6-foot-5, 250 pounds of him. At this point in the recruiting process, he is used to this sort of thing by now.
It’s been this way since October of his sophomore season. After his freshman season, not many coaches came out to see Curry, nor did they show much interest in him. But seven games into his second season as a varsity contributor, Indiana came calling with an offer on Oct. 9.
“That’s when it really blew up,” Curry said. “Every school around tried to talk to me, watching my film and coming out and watching me play. It was definitely my defense (that got me noticed). We were one of the best teams in the state, defense-wise. We were just playing real good defense during the season, and coaches saw all of our film and I guess I stuck out.”
Getting out here to @CenterGroveHS this morning to check in on 2022 defensive lineman Caden Curry (@CadenCurry14), Indianas top-ranked rising junior and No. 4 DT in America. pic.twitter.com/rRgpve5npU
— Zack Carpenter (@Zack_Carp) July 15, 2020
He certainly did. Fast forward about two months later and Curry had racked up 100 tackles (69 solo) and 10.5 sacks for one of the best teams in the state at the highest classification level in Indiana. That defensive production helped the Trojans reach the state championship game Lucas Oil Stadium and come within three points of a state title.
Curry’s reputation for being a player who could wind up being the real deal only got bigger, and with that reputation came regional attention before he eventually went national. First, he picked up an offer from Ohio State in May, and over the past two months, he has earned offers from Wisconsin and Alabama in June, then Michigan and Oregon last week.
It’s early, but Curry says Ohio State, Alabama and Oregon are the three programs sticking out the most, along with Indiana, which has continued making a strong push.
Curry made his way onto Ohio State’s radar in part thanks to former Buckeye defensive lineman Joel Hale, a 2011 graduate of Center Grove ranked No. 4 in the state when Ohio State picked him up and a utility player who played on both sides of the ball for the Buckeyes.
“He put in a good word for me at Ohio State, and they kind of just reviewed my film as a coaching staff,” Curry said. “They liked it a lot, and it kind of just built from there. Joel just told me he loved Ohio State and that he would try and help me out by putting in a good word for me.”
Once the Buckeyes were officially interested and got in contact with Curry, the two sides began building a relationship with him in April. First came a big Zoom call with Kevin Wilson – the initial coach who opened the door to Curry’s recruitment for the Buckeyes – Larry Johnson, Ryan Day and the defensive assistants.
“I just got to know everybody,” Curry said of that Zoom call. “We went through all the academics and the strength and conditioning and all that. I got to see all the facilities. It was just really nice to see everybody and meet everyone for the first time. But I’m definitely gonna have to get over there to meet them all in person.”
Center Grove (Ind.) four-star defensive lineman Caden Curry continues making a rise in his recruitment with Ohio State, Alabama and Oregon each top offers.
That Zoom call served as a good introduction into the program’s inner workings for the young star who saw a rankings bump this week into being slotted No. 128 overall, No. 10 at defensive tackle and No. 1 in Indiana.
“They had the strength coach get on there and show you all the strength and conditioning stuff that they do and what their normal day would be,” Curry said. “They’d wake up, get their meal and go lift. Get ready for the day and then their coach would be there for them. Coach Johnson would get on there and tell me how a practice looks – all the drills they would have me do; how fast they go. And then they showed me what they eat and how they do that. Just how a standard day would look like for a player there.”
Curry is ranked four spots ahead of Zionsville offensive tackle Joey Tanona, who also holds an offer from Ohio State, and could be the next in line to join the Buckeyes from the Hoosier State and follow in the footsteps of recent signees Josh Fryar (2020), Craig Young and Dawand Jones (2019), Pete Werner (2017) and Austin Mack (2016), four of whom were ranked lower than Curry with the exception of Mack (No. 72 overall).
Curry is continuing to build rapport with the Ohio State coaches, notably Wilson, who knows the area from his time spent as Indiana’s head coach and who Curry says he is very comfortable with because “he knows where the school’s at and knows all about it, so he has a lot in common with me, so we can talk about things around here.”
But for Curry, Johnson’s reputation remains perhaps the biggest pull right now to Ohio State.
“He’s one of the best defensive line coaches in college right now so he’s got all kinds of drills he can do,” Curry said. “He probably has so many back behind his head that he can just pull one out and get them going.”
He says he has heard the retirement rumors about Johnson, but he says that no school thus far has negative recruited against the Buckeyes by telling him he should be concerned about an impending retirement.
“I’ve heard it, but I think he can get a couple more years. I think he’s gonna keep going through and try to win another national championship,” Curry said. “Whenever he said he was committed to Ohio State and he wasn’t gonna leave, that definitely makes recruits feel like he’s been building something there for a while and doesn’t wanna leave. He got both the Bosas there and Chase Young that just came out.
“Coach Johnson knows so much about football and defensive line, so he can tell me all the things he sees in me and all the things that I need to get better.”
What Johnson and the Buckeyes like about Curry is how fast he gets off the ball, how he consistently plays with speed and his high motor, plus the positional versatility and attitude about where he might play in college.
Right now, Curry says the Buckeyes have not mentioned anything in terms of adding weight to his frame “because I still have two more years here. I still have this football season and another one. They’re just trying to leave me be as far as that goes until I need to make the decision of where I wanna go and what I need to be when I go to college.”
As for where he is going to play, he says he will play either defensive tackle or defensive end – wherever his coaches need him to play.
“Ohio State says they like me at either spot,” said Curry, adding that he doesn’t want to make a college decision until he’s taken his visits. “They’ve said whatever you wanna come try out as, see what players we have here, because I’m flexible at either one. I can play both. I’m right at 250, and I can get up or down. I can get skinnier or bigger.”
And apparently more comfortable with this whole process.
