Nearly two years ago — on Dec. 19, 2023, the eve of college football’s early signing period — wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and his father, Chris Smith, embarked on a final conversation to solidify the five-star recruit’s longstanding commitment to Ohio State, a program known for transforming elite prospects at that position into richly compensated NFL stars. They went to sleep that night having agreed that Jeremiah, the No. 1 overall player in the country, would sign with the Buckeyes during a ceremony the following afternoon.
Something began to change as Jeremiah navigated his next day at Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory School in Hollywood, Florida — a place where he won three consecutive state championships after transferring from Monsignor Edward Pace High School in Miami Gardens. To the surprise of those close to him, Jeremiah felt a sudden urge to flip to Miami (Fla.), one of several in-state schools willing to bend over backward to keep such a generational talent close to home. The Hurricanes had a decorated history of winning national championships (five) and producing future Pro Football Hall of Famers (11), much of which was forged in the 1980s and ’90s.
But they needed someone prodigious like Jeremiah to finally connect their glorious past with a modest present.
Wednesday’s College Football Playoff quarterfinal between No. 2 Ohio State and No. 10 Miami in the Cotton Bowl pits Jeremiah Smith against the school that nearly snatched him up two years ago and a roster bursting with some of his former teammates from a high-profile upbringing in South Florida, where fans packed high school stadiums just to watch his youth teams perform.
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“He was this shut,” Chris Smith advised me. “He was like, ‘Dad, I wish to go and gamble on myself.’ I advised him, ‘You understand you’ll be able to lose at playing, too, proper? Why gamble your life when you already know it’s a positive factor over right here [at Ohio State]?’
“Not knocking [Miami]. Not saying they will’t develop him, however if you wish to go to U-M, you’re actually not going to get developed [as much] as a result of all you’re going to do is depend on your ability set, which you have already got. And I need him to assume in a enterprise sense.”
(Photograph by Ross Harried/NurPhoto by way of Getty Photographs)
For Chris Smith, pondering in a enterprise sense meant encouraging Jeremiah to comply with by way of on his verbal pledge to Ohio State, whose huge receivers coach on the time, Brian Hartline, — who was lately employed as the pinnacle coach at USF — stays the single-best identifier and molder of high-end receiving expertise within the nation. 5 of Hartline’s former protégés have been chosen within the first spherical of the previous 4 NFL Drafts alone, with present Buckeyes standout Carnell Tate more likely to be a part of that listing come April. And Jeremiah, who enters the School Soccer Playoff having topped 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns for the second consecutive season, is a shoo-in for the primary spherical when he turns into draft-eligible in 2027. He made the suitable selection by remaining steadfast and signing with the Buckeyes.
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Someplace alongside the space-time continuum, although, is an alternate universe during which Jeremiah Smith spurns Ohio State in favor of his hometown faculty — not in contrast to the gorgeous choice by five-star quarterback and Nashville native Jared Curtis to reverse his dedication from Georgia to Vanderbilt earlier this month, drastically altering the trajectory of an missed program determined to reach the trendy period. The rock-star profile Smith now experiences at Ohio State may need reached stratospheric ranges had he enrolled at Miami, given all the things the luxurious metropolis has to supply, although he is already received a nationwide championship with the Buckeyes.
“He most likely may have went to Miami and obtained extra money,” Dameon Jones, who coached Smith at Chaminade-Madonna, advised me. “However I’ll always remember, the dad advised me, he stated, ‘We’re not on the lookout for the brief time period. We’re on the lookout for the long run. Long run is NFL, however he’s gotta be developed.’”
(Photograph by Michael Reaves/Getty Photographs)
It was a perception that everybody within the Smith household got here to share given their understanding of simply how prolific Ohio State has been at shepherding promising receiver skills to the following stage, with Hartline and head coach Ryan Day changing boundless potential into generational incomes energy seemingly at will. Nevertheless, the emotional element of a neighborhood legend eradicating himself from a group that incubated his success was difficult for these round him to just accept. Loads of folks from Smith’s interior circle needed him to remain dwelling.
His mom, Lativia Newberry, wanted some convincing earlier than signing off on the concept of her eldest son enrolling at a faculty greater than 1,100 miles away, particularly contemplating how fond she’d grow to be of then-Florida head coach Billy Napier throughout the recruiting course of.
Rod Mack, Smith’s youth coach who performed linebacker at Miami from 1995-99, noticed in his star pupil most of the similar traits he’d noticed in former Hurricane teammates Ray Lewis, Edgerrin James, Ed Reed, Reggie Wayne and Andre Johnson — all of whom have since been inducted into the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame. He couldn’t assist however daydream about Smith doubtlessly carrying the identical uniform. There have been quite a few events when Smith and his childhood associates — like present Miami gamers Joshisa Dealer and Ryan Mack, Rod Mack’s son — plotted methods for alumni of the nationally acknowledged Miami Gardens Ravens youth program to finish up on the similar faculty.
“It was going to occur,” Ryan Mack advised me. “It was purported to occur, however it simply by no means labored out. Everyone went their separate methods. You’ll be able to’t blame them. They did what was greatest for them, however I want it had ended up that approach. Perhaps it nonetheless may at some point. You by no means know.”
“The attract of them enjoying collectively was big,” Mack added, “[of] him staying in Miami and enjoying together with his buddies. As a result of it was a uncommon alternative that you just’ve obtained youngsters who’ve been enjoying since they had been 9 or 10 years previous and there’s six, seven, eight of them that may all go play faculty soccer. … You guys can be enjoying these similar positions collectively that you just’ve been coaching because you was [little]. You are able to do this at dwelling. It could have been one thing particular, however the choice to go [to Ohio State], I perceive it completely.”
The reverence proven by Rod Mack and his son to chorus from pressuring Smith’s dedication in 2023 was a mindset shared by the South Florida group at massive, a area identified for being some of the fertile expertise beds within the nation and a spot looking forward to its newest famous person to attain his lofty goals. When Smith enters AT&T Stadium on Wednesday night time to face Miami — the Buckeyes are favored by 9.5 factors — there will likely be greater than 50 native Floridians on the Hurricanes’ roster, most of whom he’s performed with or in opposition to in some unspecified time in the future within the final decade. None of them sought to overtly affect his collegiate choice, Jeremiah advised me, and so they understood why Ohio State represented the very best match for such a novel expertise. His wasn’t the form of profession to be messed with.
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Now, Smith claims an endorsement portfolio that features profitable offers with firms like Adidas, Crimson Bull, Nintendo and Lululemon, amongst others. The totality of them will nonetheless render him probably the most well-known participant on the sector this week — simply as he was in highschool and for his youth workforce earlier than that. If Smith performs the way in which he did throughout final yr’s CFP, when he caught 13 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns en path to the nationwide title, Hurricanes’ followers close to and much will be forgiven for questioning what may need been.
“I might like to see him in Miami,” Mario Perez, who coached Smith at Monsignor Tempo, advised me. “Youngsters should do what’s greatest for them, proper?”
Michael Cohen covers faculty soccer and faculty basketball for FOX Sports activities. Observe him at @Michael_Cohen13.
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