LAS VEGAS – Jeremiah Smith was an instrumental part of Ohio State’s national championship last year as a freshman.
Entering the 2025 season, the wide receiver is considered perhaps the best player in college football.
It would be easy for a 19-year-old in his position to become complacent. That’s simply not in Smith’s DNA.
“I come from humble beginnings,” Smith said at Big Ten media days. “My dad always told me, ‘Don’t brag about the things that you’re doing or the things that you’ve got.’ I’m blessed to be here. I’m blessed I had a great season last year. But I can’t let that one season get in my head.
“A lot of people would let a great season freshman year get in their head or start smiling at themselves thinking they’re all that. But I don’t think that way. I always feel I’m looking for something to improve on.”
A year ago, Smith caught 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns. He demurred when asked about statistical goals this year. But 2,000 receiving yards isn’t out of the question if OSU gets quality quarterback play from Julian Sayin or Lincoln Kienholz.
As the top player nationally in the 2024 recruiting class, Smith was not an unknown last year. But now teams have had an offseason to game-plan for him, something OSU coach Ryan Day knows well.
“You have to be creative about how you get him the ball,” Day said, “but he also is going to make everybody better on that field because he’s going to draw a lot of attention.
“It’s going to be important for the quarterback to recognize that and then use the other weapons that he has.”
Smith said that his focus in the offseason was to become an even better student of the game. He spent plenty of time in wide receivers coach/offensive coordinator Brian Hartline’s office breaking down video of defenses.
Smith has an extremely rare combination of speed, strength, body control, hands and size at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds. But there are things he can improve. One is becoming a more vocal leader.
“I’m not a vocal guy,” Smith said. “I’m more of a guy who leads by example, so it’s been pretty challenging for me. (Strength) coach Mick (Marotti) challenged me a lot to open up and say things. I’m starting to come more out of my shell.”
Becoming a celebrity has also been an adjustment. He realized that early last season when he ventured out on High Street in Columbus after a game.
“Everyone was asking for pictures and coming up to me,” he said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to leave. I’m going home.’”
There is no doubt that Smith is ready to play in the NFL now. But he won’t be eligible for the draft until 2027.
“I’m having fun,” Smith said. “I’m in college. I’m enjoying life. I’m not in a rush to go to the NFL.”
Name, image and likeness deals are private, but Smith is no doubt doing quite well, even if it’s not as much as he’d make in the NFL.
Besides, he has unfinished business as a Buckeye, including beating Michigan. In a 12-team College Football Playoff era, no single game is a must-win anymore, but Smith scoffed at the notion people would say The Game has been diminished because of that.
“I feel like they’re crazy,” Smith said. “A rivalry is a rivalry.
“They don’t like us. We don’t like them. It’s a rivalry that’s been going on for 100-plus years. It’s going to continue that way even when I’m done playing here at Ohio State.”
Though Smith was an indispensable piece in OSU’s national championship a year ago, he considered that title more for the seniors like fellow receiver Emeka Egbuka who delayed going to the NFL for a shot at winning it all.
A repeat title this season would be different.
“I feel this year, it’s definitely going to be for me, Sonny (Styles), Caleb (Downs), Carnell Tate and all the other guys who were young last year,” Smith said. “If we win it this year, it’s definitely going to be ours.”
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Ohio State football beat writer Bill Rabinowitz can be reached at brabinowitz@dispatch.com or on bluesky at billrabinowitz@bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith vows not to let big year go to his head