FOREST PARK, Ohio — Cameron Calhoun and Jermaine Mathews have been friends since grade school.
The cornerbacks played youth football together and later helped lead Winton Woods to a Division II state championship in 2021.
So when Mathews signed with Ohio State and Calhoun signed with Michigan on Wednesday morning, it was certainly an interesting, familiar conversation about their friendship in the next few years.
Winton Woods athletic director David Lumpkin played the respective school's fight songs as Calhoun and Mathews entered the auditorium stage for a late Wednesday afternoon National Signing Day ceremony.
"We have two that grew up childhood friends and will leave today as mortal enemies," Lumpkin deadpanned.
Calhoun and Mathews wouldn't disagree about the football side of the equation.
"We just been right there next to each other this whole time," Mathews said. "So now that we are rivals it's going to be a little different. But, we still love each other no matter what. On the field in between the lines — that's my enemy."
Mathews and Calhoun, both of whom graduated early from Winton Woods, smiled at the thought of playing one another in arguably the sport's most heated rivalry as National Signing Day concluded in front of an audience of family and friends.
"I can only imagine the hooting and hollering over this game the next few years," Winton Woods coach Chad Murphy said.
The bragging rights start on Dec. 31 during the College Football Playoff. Mathews said he will be on the sideline for Ohio State's game against Georgia in Atlanta while Calhoun will be with his Michigan teammates for the game against Texas Christian University (TCU) in Arizona.
"It just makes me even more excited about getting with them," Calhoun said of being with Michigan. "Now, I get to actually on the sideline and get the feeling of game day. Everything just feels great."
Calhoun is so confident in the Wolverines in the national semifinal that he expects Michigan to play Georgia in the national championship game Jan. 9 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
However, Mathews would certainly disagree.
How fitting it would be for Mathews, rated Ohio's No. 6 player overall in the 2023 class by 247 Sports and Calhoun, rated No. 13 in the state, to see each other for the first time in a college game in a few weeks.
"It's very fun," said Mathews. "It's a great story for both of us so I can't wait for both of us to get started and show what we can do."
