Ocala (Fla.) Trinity Catholic offensive tackle Caleb Johnson moved around a lot as a child because his father, Aaron, played briefly with the Kansas City Chiefs and lined up on the offensive line for a few years in the Arena Football League — including stints with the Colorado Crush and the Indiana Firebirds.
The bulk of Johnson’s childhood was spent in Fort Wayne, Ind., before his family relocated to Central Florida going into his sophomore year of high school. His recruitment took off after his first season at Trinity Catholic, picking up a handful of Power Five offers.
As an Indiana kid, Johnson grew up no stranger to Notre Dame. He also visited campus twice in 2019, including the Fighting Irish’s victory over USC, but didn’t earn an offer from the program until the following March.
Johnson had his plan set: take June official visits to Auburn, Notre Dame, Penn State and maybe a couple of others before making a decision prior to the start of his senior season. However, the NCAA kept pushing back its recruiting dead period due to the pandemic, and Johnson decided to lock in an early pledge.
In May, he picked the Auburn Tigers, the school that had recruited him very hard and he had been to a handful of times.
