Jeremiah Smith grew up a South Florida kid with the Hurricanes right in his backyard. Miami recruited him hard, and they came close. Smith himself has admitted he “most likely” would have committed there if things were on the right track. Instead, he packed his bags and headed to Columbus, broke every freshman receiving record Cris Carter had set, and is now widely projected as a top-10 NFL Draft pick. So what actually made the difference? Listen to the man himself.

“To get out of the state of Florida. I’ve been there for 17 or 18 years. I’m experiencing something different,” Smith said to Darian Rencher on the I am Next podcast. “I mean, in the development here, I have my position as receiver. I got a good coach, Brian Hartline, who’s leaving now, unfortunately, going to USF. But I just wanted to come here to be around a great group of men and around people I can compete against week in and week out. I’m very good at what they do as well, so that’s why I came here.”

Being a part of Wide Receiver U has its perks, and Jeremiah Smith understood that way early. The Buckeyes have made a reputation for being an NFL pipeline by developing 24 WRs and getting them drafted in the past two decades. Compared to this, Miami produced very few players who fit the pro mold. Since 2018, they have had only two receivers drafted: Braxton Berrios (6th round, 2018) and K.J. Osborn (5th round, 2020). On the contrary, OSU has seen five receivers taken in the first round alone since 2022 (Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison Jr., and Emeka Egbuka).

How did this happen? Former OC and WR coach Brian Hartline has been a key figure in pitching former players like Jaxon Smith-Njigba to compete daily against other first-round talents like Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave, forcing them to sharpen their skills or lose playing time. Under Hartline, their versatility opened up as they learned to play both in the slot and on the outside. Take the recent example of Carnell Tate. While he mainly functioned as an outside deep threat, his smooth route running has made him an effective “possession receiver” and a reliable “safety blanket” across the middle.

He recorded zero drops on 66+ targets last year, proving the dependable, “pro-ready” hands that Ohio State receivers are known for. Because of that reliability, analysts widely project him as a top-10 pick and potentially the first wide receiver selected. Smith also chose to play for Hartline because he considers him the best wide receivers coach in college football, all thanks to his technical expertise and ability to prepare players for the pros.

“Coach Hartline is a special, special coach in my eyes,” said Smith of Hartline. “He develops first-round talent year in and year out. He pushes us each and every day to be the best version of ourselves. Coach Hartline is somebody I wanted to be coached by in college. He just has everything that you wanna learn at the college level, and he’s gonna teach you things about the pros as well.”

After a review like that, Miami didn’t even stand a chance of landing its in-state talent. However, being from Florida, Smith had some interest in being closer to home and committing to Miami. But he changed his decision when the Hurricanes couldn’t perform in the big games as Ohio State did. Ari Wasserman of On3 asked Smith if Miami had been in more big games like this, would Smith have chosen the Hurricanes?

“Most likely, yeah. I probably would’ve ended up going to Miami if things had been on the right track then and there. But I chose to stick with Ohio State.”

After the Buckeyes lost to the Hurricanes in the Cotton Bowl, rumors briefly surfaced about Smith entering the transfer portal. Because his brother, Angelo Smith from the 2027 class, had also committed to Ohio State, some wondered if he might follow him out the door after rumors surfaced about Smith entering the transfer portal.

The Miami shadow looms large over the Smith 

Angelo Smith verbally committed to the Buckeyes on September 21st, 2025. He chose OSU over several other offers, including Miami, Oklahoma State, Georgia State, and Toledo. Honestly, one whole year is left for Angelo to sign the letter of intent. And until that, nothing seems to be settled in today’s landscape. Here, the most potential threat is Miami.

“Angelo Smith, the younger brother of Jeremiah Smith… I believe Miami has a chance to possibly land him if he continues to develop as a defensive back,” Miami insider Marcus Benjamin told Rivals. “Because I’m hearing that there’s a chance that Jeremiah Smith might want to come back home, and if that happens, then they have a chance to get an Angelo Smith as well.”

Jeremiah Smith has already solidified his status of coming back to Columbus by saying, “Not going nowhere.” But the situation of Angelo still remains dicey. And to be honest, this is not the same Miami that it was a couple of years back.

Miami is now landing top-tier high school talent like Malachi Toney (the nation’s top freshman in 2025) and Nick Lennear, aiming to reduce reliance on the transfer portal. And they have also shown results on the field when they defeated the Buckeyes at the 2025 Cotton Bowl.