HBCU HC Says Jeremiah Smith Could’ve Played For SEC Powerhouse Under Him

The Jeremiah Smith we all know arrived like the best wideout in the country in Week 2 and made the field feel small every time he touched it. A clean get‑off, violent hands, and late separation that makes safeties panic and angles vanish in a blink. After Texas bracketed him and forced others to win in the opener, the response was pure WR1 energy and the confidence of someone who expects the ball to find him because he earned it snap after snap.

The receipts backed the eye test. Smith put together a 5‑for‑119, 2‑TD night capped by an 87‑yard strike that showed the whole toolbox of vertical speed, ball tracking, and finishing through the line like a sprinter leaning at the tape. He said it himself after Week 1, “I just got to catch the damn football,” and then did exactly that against Grambling State, turning a week of self‑crit into a clinic on focus and execution in space. The national lens matched the moment, too, with The Athletic’s Freaks List placing him at No. 1 for a reason that reads obvious after watching him stack corners. If Week 1 was a warning that defenses would sell out to slow him, Week 2 was the answer key for how an elite receiver adjusts and still tilts the game in his direction.

Then came a voice that carries weight in this sport. Grambling State head coach Mickey Joseph, LSU’s wide receivers coach from 2017 to 2021, didn’t dance around what he saw across the field. “They’re a really good football team over there. I’m sure they’re going to be playing after January. I know what they look like. I won one at LSU, so I know what they look like.” That line lands different when it comes from someone who groomed rooms that featured future NFL stars and held a ring from a group that ran the table in 2019. He has spent enough hours in elite meeting rooms to call out the traits when he sees them in real time.

Joseph also put his stamp on Jeremiah Smith, and he did it with the comp that turns heads fast: “He’s a little longer (than Ja’Marr Chase), but he’s a dude. He could’ve played for me at LSU, could’ve been in that lineup. The route running, the speed, his hands and he’s tough. We hit him one good time, and he just popped up. He’s a first-round pick.”

That perspective comes from the coach who developed LSU’s 2019 wideout trio of Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, and Terrace Marshall Jr., a group that combined for 241 catches, 3,991 yards, and 51 TDs en route to a national title and multiple draft‑day headliners under his watch. Smith’s own tape fits that resume stamp, so the comparison lands with more weight than a casual postgame compliment.

Look at where Joseph’s pupils are now, and the bar gets even clearer: Justin Jefferson is locked into a four‑year, $140 million deal through 2028 with Minnesota, the richest contract for a non‑QB at signing, which is the league’s loudest validation of elite receiver play. Ja’Marr Chase has made the Pro Bowl in each of his first four seasons with Cincinnati, a straight‑line elite trajectory that keeps him in every best‑at‑his‑position conversation. To be talked about in that company in only a second collegiate season is about as strong a compliment as a young receiver can get, and Smith’s performance matches the standard that group helped define.

Put the scoreboard next to the scouting, and the fit is obvious. Ohio State looked game-ready in every phase, and its young star at receiver played like a player who can change coverages on snap one. When a coach with Joseph’s background drops that praise, it feels like validation more than hype, and the film supports it frame by frame. If this is the baseline, the Big Ten grind ahead looks like a runway for Jeremiah Smith and a roster that knows exactly how it wants to win.

Mickey Joseph takes a seven‑figure guarantee

Mickey Joseph put the night in plain terms after Grambling State’s trip to Columbus: “If you know me personally, you know what I told my boys,” Joseph said, “We were gonna fight, but this playing field’s not even. It’s levels to college football right now. They have a really good football team over there. I’m sure they’re gonna be playing after January. I know what they look like. I won one at LSU.” He was describing a talent and resource gap he has seen up close while tipping the cap to a roster he believes is built to keep playing deep into winter. The “playing field’s not even” line matched both the matchup.

There was also a practical reason to take the date. Grambling State received a $1 million guarantee to play at Ohio State, part of the Buckeyes’ nonconference appearance payouts disclosed via public records. Contract documents show a $1 million payment to the Tigers for the Sept. 6, 2025, game in Ohio Stadium, consistent with what major programs budget for so‑called “guarantee games” against FCS opponents. National outlets recapping the weekend also noted the figure, framing it as the going rate for these one‑off visits that help fund HBCU athletic departments through a single marquee road trip.