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Jake Trotter, ESPN Senior Writer
Jack Daniels had never witnessed a catch like it.
The South Florida high school coach of 35 years was playing Chaminade-Madonna — and future Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith — in the playoffs.
“They were already up on us pretty good, and they had the running back throw the ball,” Daniels recalled. “And [Smith] went up — I think he was about 5 feet over the goalpost over a kid that was a Power 4 corner [Kevin Levy, who is now at Rutgers]. … It was just incredible.”
The Cardinal Newman coach has faced dozens of future NFL wide receivers over the years, including Pro Football Hall of Famer Devin Hester and Super Bowl champion Anquan Boldin.
Yet to Daniels, Smith stands alone.
“He is head and shoulders, by far, the best I’ve ever seen,” said Daniels, comparing Smith’s high school prowess to that of Baltimore Ravens MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson, who hailed from Boynton Beach Community High School.
“There’s been nothing like him.”
Archbishop Carroll coach Jorge Zagales, who also lost to Chaminade in the playoffs, recalls only one opposing player over his three decades on the sidelines who could dominate like Smith.
“I coached against Sean Taylor. … and Jeremiah is right there, if not the same as Sean Taylor,” Zagales said of the former Pro Bowl safety from Gulliver Prep, who died at 24. “Sean Taylor probably would’ve been a Hall of Famer. I feel that’s the way Jeremiah is headed.”
Clearwater Central Catholic coach Chris Harvey grew up in West Virginia watching Randy Moss play for DuPont High School. As a coach, Harvey hadn’t come across anyone like Moss — until he met Smith in the Florida state championship game.
“You saw what [Moss] did to professional DBs, so imagine what he did to DBs in West Virginia in high school,” Harvey said. “I love my home state. But we’re not West Virginia in Florida. We’ve got dudes — and Jeremiah Smith made us look like the West Virginia high school DBs.”
All of that might sound hyperbolic.
Except seven games into his freshman season at Ohio State, Smith — still just 18 years old — is already one of college football’s best wide receivers, alongside Alabama freshman phenom Ryan Williams and Colorado Heisman Trophy contender Travis Hunter.
“His physical skills (6-foot-3, 215 pounds) are kind of incomparable for someone at that age, but it’s his maturity level that has set him apart. There’s a lot of guys that could get caught up in that hype. You don’t see that out of him,” said Ohio State offensive coordinator and former NFL head coach Chip Kelly, who noted that Smith carries on like a “10-year NFL veteran.”
“How he approaches meetings, how he approaches practices,” Kelly said, “it’s rare.”
Despite playing on an Ohio State offense loaded with future pros, including running backs Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson, and preseason All-American wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, Smith leads the Buckeyes with 623 receiving yards on 35 receptions.
Last week, Smith tied Cris Carter’s Ohio State freshman record set in 1984 with his eighth touchdown catch, blowing by the Nebraska defense for a 60-yard score.
On Saturday, in a Big Ten showdown against third-ranked Penn State, Smith needs only seven receptions and 26 receiving yards to break Carter’s other freshman program records, though he’s still well behind Michael Crabtree’s national freshman receiving records at Texas Tech in 2007 (134 catches for 1,962 yards and 22 touchdowns).
Smith has reached the end zone in every game this season, highlighted by his dazzling one-handed touchdown grabs against Michigan State and Iowa.
TWO UNBELIEVEABLE ONE-HANDED CATCHES BY JEREMIAH SMITH 🤯
THEY CAN’T GUARD HIM 👀 pic.twitter.com/vGUUs6rn41
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 29, 2024
To those who faced Smith in high school, those spectacular catches are nothing new.
In their state championship game, Harvey assumed Chaminade quarterback CJ Bailey was throwing the ball away.
“Then from nowhere comes this arm,” Harvey said. “And [Smith] pulls it back in for a touchdown, like Stretch Armstrong. It was definitely one of the best catches I’ve ever seen. But the thing about it is, he does that so often, he doesn’t even get excited about it.”
Harvey and Clearwater Catholic lost the past two state championship games to Chaminade by a combined score of 104-14. Smith caught 11 passes for 170 yards in the second title matchup on the way to a 56-0 victory for Chaminade’s third state championship in a row.
Afterward, South Florida University coach Alex Golesh, who was in attendance, consoled Harvey, telling him, “That’s just what happens when you’re playing a generational talent.”
“And that’s what he is,” Harvey said. “And outside of Randy Moss, I’ve never seen a person have the ability to take over a game at that position the way he did.”
Smith didn’t reach that level by accident.
North Carolina running back Davion Gause, who grew up with Smith and played with him at Chaminade, recalled Smith being cut from their youth football team 11 years ago.
“He still came to the park every day and watched us practice, playing catch with his dad the whole time,” Gause said. “When he came back the next year, he was a different player.”
Bailey, who played on a different youth team, remembered Smith dominating in the championship game that following year.
“He was killing us,” said Bailey, now NC State’s starting quarterback.
Bailey, Gause and Smith later joined forces at Chaminade, forming one of the country’s top high school teams. Chaminade coach Dameon Jones said he’d hadn’t had a player more committed who worked harder in practice than Smith.
“His mindset, the way it is to be so young, is crazy,” said Jones, who coached Miami Dolphins quarterback Tyler Huntley and Cincinnati Bengals running back Zack Moss. “I’ve just never seen it before. … He’s the total package.”
As a junior, Smith was hampered by a hip flexor injury. Jones pleaded with Smith to take off a couple of practices to allow the hip to heal.
“He got pissed at me,” Jones said. “He told me, ‘I’m not missing practice. I’m not missing reps.'”
Smith brought that work ethic to Columbus. This summer, he became Ohio State’s first freshman to be named an “Iron Buckeye,” given to the top performers in offseason workouts.
“Jeremiah is already a freak in the weight room,” said Egbuka, who also earned the honor.
The one-handed catches, however, have been what have set Smith apart this season.
After Odell Beckham Jr. made his famous one-handed touchdown snag for the New York Giants in 2014, Gause remembered Smith toiling endlessly attempting to re-create it.
Later at Chaminade, Smith and teammate Joshisa Trader, who’s now a receiver at Miami, worked on their one-handed catches with the jug machines daily. Jones would get irritated when players would try to catch with one hand in games. But after watching how rigorously Smith practiced them, Jones had to relent.
“The stuff y’all are seeing right now in college with them one-handed catches,” Bailey said, “I’ve seen way, way crazier things from him.”
One of those one-handed catches came during a victory over Miami Central on ESPN.
“[He] would just kill other defenses,” said Pitt defensive end Zachary Crothers, who also played for Chaminade. “You could tell defenses were scared. They did not want to be out there.”
Bailey knew Smith would be special during their first 7-on-7 tournament together; Smith initially had played at Monsignor Edward Pace before transferring to Chaminade as a sophomore. The Lions were down a score, and time was running out.
“We got a play called,” Bailey said. “This is a clutch moment. But [Smith] walks up to the [offensive coordinator] and says, ‘I want a fade.’ Coach says, ‘All right, let him run a fade.'”
Bailey lofted the ball to Smith, who brought the pass down over the defender for a touchdown. Chaminade then went for two to win the game.
“And we never lost a 7-on-7 tournament,” Bailey said. “With him, I’ve seen it all.”
Despite becoming the No. 1-ranked high school receiver in the country, Smith only asked Jones for the ball one time.
An opposing defensive back from American Heritage kept talking trash to Smith during one of Chaminade’s few tightly contested games.
“So we threw [Smith] a bomb, and he caught a touchdown over him,” Jones said. “The one thing about JJ, he’s quiet, he’s humble. But he’s also got that dog mentality inside of him.”
Smith has kept that same mentality in college. Over the past three years, the Buckeyes have generated four first-round draft picks at receiver in Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Marvin Harrison Jr.
This spring, the Arizona Cardinals selected Harrison with the No. 4 pick, making him the highest-drafted receiver in Ohio State history. But Smith-Njigba says he believes Smith could ultimately go higher than any of them — though he won’t be eligible until the 2027 draft.
“He could play one year of college and be ready for the league,” Smith-Njigba said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a receiver that young like him.”
