Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is among the many reasons why the Buckeyes are a cool 7–0 to begin the 2025 college football season, and currently hold the No. 1 spot in the latest AP Top 25 poll.
Through seven games, the 19-year-old has been nothing short of dominant, hauling in 49 passes for 602 yards and seven touchdowns—all of which are team highs. Those 49 catches also rank first in the Big Ten, proving just how productive he’s been in one of the NCAA’s top leagues.
Smith’s production to begin 2025 comes on top of his dominant true freshman season from a year ago, one where he led the conference in yards (1,315) and touchdown receptions (15) on his way to a Second-Team All-American nod, the Big Ten’s Receiver of the Year award and a major role in Ohio State winning its second national title in just over a decade.
His success is hardly surprising to Ohio State, whose longstanding history of developing elite wide receivers was among the reasons Smith chose Columbus in the first place.
“I mean, it was a no-brainer for me,” Smith said in an interview with Sports Illustrated, promoting AT&T's “Clutch Calls,” when asked about why he committed to the Buckeyes. “Seeing the success that they’ve had at the receiver position in recent years. Guys like Marvin Harrison Jr., Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, guys in the past like Cris Carter. It definitely was a day one thought of mine, coming to Ohio State to be one of them guys.”
Brian Hartline’s impact on Jeremiah Smith, Ohio State’s wide receiver factory
Once a Buckeye wide receiver himself from 2005 to ’08, Brian Hartline has worked with the Ohio State football program since 2017—two years after retiring from the NFL. The now-38-year-old has worked his way up the ranks from a quality control assistant to wide receivers coach, before adding full offensive coordinator duties to his role in ’23.
“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 is somebody I want[ed] 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 ... Coach Hartline does a good job with us each and every day, can’t thank him enough for that.”
Hartline has become the heartbeat of the OSU offense, overseeing the development of countless elite pass catchers—including five first-round picks over the last three NFL drafts.
Smith credits Ohio State’s brotherhood and veteran guidance for his growth
Said first-round talent includes the aforementioned Olave and Wilson (2022), Smith-Njigba (‘23), and Marvin Harrison Jr. (’24), as well as Buccaneers rookie phenom Emeka Egbuka, who was Smith’s running mate a season ago with the Buckeyes.
“It’s not really shocking me,” said Smith when asked about the success Egbuka has had to begin his NFL career in Tampa Bay. “I’ve seen the things he did each and every day in practice so I knew that he was going to translate over well to the NFL. I mean, Emeka is a great leader, a great person as well, so I’m happy for the success that he’s having right now.”
Smith also credits current Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate, who played alongside him and Egbuka last season, for his development as a player.
“Carnell has meant a lot to me,” Smith explained. “Especially last year, my freshman year. He played a big help in the season that I had last year, because coming in as a freshman, you think you know everything, but you don’t. So you always need them older guys to help you with everything on the football field ... So him and Emeka have been a big help of mines.”
Off the field, the Buckeyes’ wide receiver lineage—a “brotherhood,” Smith calls it—remains in close contact, making it a point to remain in touch even with their busy schedules.
“There’s a relationship there. ... Them guys always reach out to coach Hartline to talk with us,” he explained. “Even them guys reach out on social media after a big game that you have, they always reach out to say, ‘Congrats, keep going,’ this, that and the third. So them guys, they don't always get a chance, you know, they’re in the NFL, so they don’t get the chance to come back, [but when they do], they always come back.”
Smith has one goal in mind for the remainder of the 2025 season
Through all of Smith’s achievements, which have him within striking distance of winning the 2025 Heisman Trophy, he made it clear that individual accolades are far from his primary focus—even if his social media feeds put them directly in front of his face. The Buckeyes are in prime position to win a second consecutive national championship, which is Smith’s ultimate goal with just under a month to go in the regular season.
“I’m worried about the team right now ... going back-to-back, that’s something that’s never been done in Ohio State history. So I feel like that’s really the main focus right now.”
For now, the Buckeyes will look to remain undefeated this coming Saturday when they welcome the Penn State Nittany Lions to Ohio Stadium for a 12:00 p.m. ET kickoff.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘A No-Brainer’: Jeremiah Smith on Why He Chose Ohio State, Brian Hartline’s WR Factory.
