Jeremiah Smith said that a certain program came after him hard in the offseason and it didn't exactly take Sherlock Holmes to crack the case. Smith even said, "I think everybody here knows who it was."
The obvious answer is that it was Miami.
Jeremiah Smith was asked about the offers he may have received this offseason to leave Ohio State. He said there was never a moment he considered leaving, although he wasn’t surprised to see a certain program make a big push.
— Dillon Davis (@DillonDavis56) March 28, 2026
“I think everyone here knows who it was,” he said. pic.twitter.com/oBCSfgysbv
Miami went after WR Jeremiah Smith in the offseason
Smith was ever truly leaving Columbus and he made that part clear. For Smith, it was always going to be Ohio State and he never entered the portal despite the all the noise that followed the Buckeyes' Cotton Bowl loss to Miami.
But for the Hurricanes, it confirms Miami never gave up on the idea.
Miami and Jeremiah Smith will always be a "what if"
Smith is from Miami Gardens and starred at Chaminade-Madonna in Hollywood. He was the No. 1 player in his class and one of the biggest recruiting misses of the Mario Cristobal era. Even months ago, Smith admitted that if Miami had looked then the way it looks now, he probably would have stayed home. Looking back, it feels like the program and the prospect missed each other by one to two years.
Smith has been one of the most valuable players in college football from the moment he got to Ohio State. He logged 87 catches for 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2025 — after posting 76 catches, 1,315 yards, 15 receiving touchdowns in 2024 — bumping his career numbers up to 163 receptions, 2,558 yards and 27 touchdown catches in two college seasons.
Smith stayed at Ohio State because they are still Ohio State. He has won big there, put up monster numbers there and is on track to be one of the first names called in the 2027 NFL draft. Miami made a push, but they could not make the pull stronger than what Smith already had.
On the other hand, the fact Miami was the school everyone immediately thought of says plenty. It says the Hurricanes are now relevant enough, aggressive enough and dangerous enough to even attempt to make a run at Smith. Now, just like a few years ago, it didn't work. But, it's a clear sign of where the Canes are under Cristobal.
And it is also one of those rare college football stories where both the player and the hometown program ended up in a pretty good place.