Another young Buckeye is on the move.
Cody Haddad, a redshirt freshman safety from Cleveland’s St. Ignatius High School, has entered the transfer portal after one season at Ohio State. The former three-star prospect, ranked No. 523 overall and No. 45 among safeties in the 2025 class by 247Sports' composite, is seeking a fresh start with four full years of eligibility remaining.
Haddad didn’t see the field in his first year in Columbus, taking a redshirt as he developed behind a deep and competitive safety room. And looking ahead to 2026, the path to playing time wasn’t exactly opening up.
Ohio State has been aggressive in reshaping its secondary this offseason, bringing in two experienced safeties via the transfer portal: Terry Moore from Duke and Earl Little Jr. from Florida State. Those two are expected to line up alongside returning contributor Jaylen McClain, forming a trio with both experience and upside.
Add in rising redshirt sophomore Leroy Roker III-who carved out a role in dime packages last season-and the competition only gets tighter. Roker is projected to be the first man off the bench in 2026. Then there’s Deshawn Stewart, a redshirt freshman and higher-rated recruit from the same 2025 class as Haddad, who’s also pushing for a bigger role.
The writing was on the wall: Haddad was buried on the depth chart, and Ohio State’s recent recruiting moves didn’t make things any easier. The Buckeyes signed four more safeties in the 2026 class, including three four-star prospects-Blaine Bradford, Simeon Caldwell, and Khmari Bing-plus three-star Kaden Gebhardt. That’s a lot of young talent coming in, and it likely factored into Haddad’s decision to look elsewhere.
He becomes the ninth member of Ohio State’s 2025 recruiting class to hit the portal, and the 31st Buckeye overall to do so. It’s a reminder of how fluid rosters have become in the transfer era, especially at powerhouse programs where the margin for playing time is razor-thin.
For Haddad, the move offers a chance to reset and find a program where he can develop and compete for snaps sooner rather than later. He’s got the tools and now, a fresh opportunity to put them to use.