Sports

Who Offered Jeremiah Smith $10 Million? WR Subtly Shades Miami After Revealing Massive NIL Deal

#Jeremiah Smith
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iStockphoto / © Jerome Miron-Imagn Images


Jeremiah Smith is the best wide receiver in college football. The Ohio State pass catcher is expected to come off the board early in the 2027 NFL Draft.

He confirmed tampering rumors earlier this offseason while detailing an eight-figure offer from an unnamed rival. Was it the Miami Hurricanes?

Smith is from South Florida. The Hurricanes were a player in his initial recruitment out of high school. Then-starting quarterback Cam Ward personally recruited the receiver ahead of his freshman year.

Smith spurned his hometown program to sign with the Buckeyes. Despite that commitment, Miami’s pursuits never stopped. Smith admitted that the school attempted to lure him into the transfer portal after his sophomore season.

He, again, declined.

Miami wanted Jeremiah Smith.

“I knew after (the Cotton Bowl) that a certain program was going to come at me hard,” he said while speaking to the media. “I’m not gonna say names, but I think everyone here knows who it was.”

Ohio State lost to Miami in that College Football Playoff matchup. Smith says the Hurricanes used the result as a negotiation tool.

He further opened up on the recruiting pitch during a recent interview with On3.

“No reason to go back home, not when I’m at the best place in the country. I came to Ohio State for a reason, to win championships, develop as a player and a person and keep building on this legacy. I might have grown up in South Florida, but I’m a Buckeye. That’s not changing.”

-Jeremiah Smith

The Hurricanes weren’t the only program to tamper.

Jeremiah Smith never entered the transfer portal. He is happy with his decision to play for Ohio State. Still, schools continued to reach out.

“Teams were telling my agent they had a certain amount of money for me to come there,” he told Chris Low. The wideout also provided a number to go along with the offers – $10 million.

While Smith noted multiple suitors, one program continued to find its way into the conversation.

“Just because (Miami) beat us and things went their way, I wasn’t going back home… it didn’t make sense for me to go back. I have a good quarterback here. I have a good group of teammates here. A lot of people came back, so it would look stupid for me to go there, and we have a team here that’s already built.”

-Jeremiah Smith

Smith subtly shaded the Hurricanes, who are losing tons of production to the NFL. He believes he’s in a better situation with more talent around him. No amount of money would motivate him to leave.

Ohio State has star power on the roster. It is a national title contender. Meanwhile, some uncertainty surrounds Miami. The pass catcher wasn’t willing to start over with the Hurricanes where they’ll have a third signal caller in three years’ time.

Miami has money to spend. It’s estimated they dropped upwards of $20 million on the 2025 roster, which included a massive NIL package for transfer quarterback Carson Beck.

The investment paid off. The Hurricanes made the national title game, though they came up just short of a championship with a loss to Indiana.

The Hurricanes were believed to have tampered with others this offseason, most notably South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers.

Miami later bought the commitment of Duke signal caller Darian Mensah following a dramatic court battle.

Connecting the dots, Miami seems a likely candidate to have offered the $10 million price. It’s shown a willingness to throw money at top talent.

Smith did not confirm that the school made the offer, only the initial interest shown by the Hurricanes. With that said, assumptions have been made.

It’s widely assumed Miami is the school that made the attempt to get Smith away from the Buckeyes. He is from the Miami area, and the Hurricanes were among the programs he was considering in 2024.

-Bleacher Report

Smith is already one of the highest paid players in college football. It would take a lot to convince him to leave, apparently more than $10 million.

Miami was unsuccessful in its pursuits of the wideout, as was the program that offered the eight-figure deal. Maybe, they are one in the same.