Ohio State Star Wide Receiver Jeremiah Smith Reveals How Important Winning is to Him

We now all know what Jeremiah Smith is all about. 

He isn't about the money, he isn't about the fame, he isn't about the notoriety; he is simply about winning. He wants to be the best in everything that he does, and winning football games is his number one priority.

Smith was asked on Monday at the Cotton Bowl Media Day if his story would be different if Miami was this good when he was in high school. Look away if youre a Buckeye fan, because here is what he had to say when asked if his decision to go to college would have been different.

"Most likely, yeah, I would have ended up going to Miami if things (were) on the right track but I chose to go to Ohio State.

If Miami had won more or played in games like this during Jeremiah Smith’s high school career, would he be a Hurricane right now?

He said yes. pic.twitter.com/iaOehXDA6P

— Ari Wasserman (@AriWasserman) December 29, 2025

That's quite the sliding doors moment for a player who has the potential to be one of the greatest college football players to ever play the game. 

Smith has it all. From his size, strength, speed, IQ, and everything in between, he is almost the perfect football player, and the results have been on full-display. He is by far and away the best player in College Football today and will be next year in his final year in college.

However, it would be very hard to imagine him in the green and orange playing for the Hurricanes. At least it would be hard for Buckeye fans to imagine it, because if you are from South Florida, it is probably something that you dreamed about when he was in high school.

At Chaminade-Madonna prep school, Smith took the high school football world over and quickly became a cant miss five-star prospect. It was nearly a shoo-in that he was going to go to Miami and be the Savior of the Hurricanes program.

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Ryan Day and the Buckeyes had other plans.

No one will ever forget the live reaction from Day when he was at the podium doing a press conference, and he got the news and faked like he fainted. 

Smith came to college with just about every expectation in the book and has exceeded all of them. He caught two touchdowns in his very first game as a Buckeye, and he was off and running, and has never slowed down. 

Now that he turns his attention to the Playoffs and looks to continue penning his historic college football legacy, it's hard not to think about how different his story would be if he was in South Beach.

For now, he gets a chance to take down his hometown team on New Year's Eve in the Playoffs, and it's a shame the "The U" wasn't back two years sooner because for Jeremiah, it's all about winning.