How close was Jeremiah Smith to becoming a Miami Hurricane? Cam Ward tried

LAS VEGAS — Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith is the best player in college football. And having won a national title as a true freshman, he’s already a Buckeye legend forever.

But how close was he to maybe being somewhere else? How close was he to being a Miami Hurricane?

It’s ancient history now — buried by Ohio State’s incredible run in the College Football Playoff, capped by Smith’s incredible catch in the fourth quarter against Notre Dame to capture the national title — but Smith once had the Buckeyes sweating.

On the evening of National Signing Day for the 2024 recruiting class, Smith was last to get his paperwork in. It wasn’t an hour or two. It lasted deep into the late hours of the night and people were uncertain of the holdup. There were rumors that Smith, who is from Opa Locka, Fla., was going to stay home.

It turns out, Miami had him thinking. Specifically, quarterback Cam Ward.

“What went into me taking a long period to send my NLI in was paperwork, the business side of things,” Smith said. “That night, I definitely talked to Cam Ward. Thought about something, but … ”

But.

That’s a rough “but” for Miami. It has to be painful to contemplate what last year could have been like had Smith been out there catching balls from Ward, who was the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s NFL Draft. Drop Smith into an offense that also had receivers Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George and running backs Damien Martinez and Mark Fletcher Jr.? That may have been one of the best offenses of all time. Could Miami have made a run to the national title?

It may sound farfetched because the Hurricanes defense was, well, bad. But Miami’s offense finished No. 1 in the FBS in total offense, averaging 537.2 yards per play. Would anyone have been able to stop the Hurricanes? It’s a scary thought.

Smith never had a conversation with Ward breaking the news he wasn’t going to be a Hurricane. He ultimately signed with Ohio State and that decision clearly paid off.

“I didn’t really tell him,” Smith said. “We just got on the phone and he was like ‘what are you going to do?’ I was like ‘I don’t know.’ A couple hours later I sent the NLI in.”

Smith hasn’t spoken to Ward since.

Let’s hope Ward isn’t mad at him.

Who knows, maybe they’ll be teammates with the Tennessee Titans in a few years?