Chip Kelly on Jeremiah Smith: ‘It’s almost like you’re dealing with a 10-year NFL veteran’

Will Howard faked a handoff. Then the Ohio State quarterback uncorked one of the best passes he’s thrown this season, a 60-yard deep ball to his top receiver, true freshman Jeremiah Smith.

Smith, well ahead of the closest Nebraska safety, caught the pass and made a beeline to the end zone — except, inside the 10-yard line, he eased up on the gas while cruising into the paint for six.

That’s one of the only times Smith has slowed down this season.

The On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 1 wide receiver in the 2024 class has sprinted toward and past milestones. Over the weekend, he became the first true freshman wide receiver to catch at least one touchdown in his team’s first seven games of the season since Sidney Rice accomplished that feat at South Carolina in 2005.

Smith leads the Buckeyes with 623 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns. His 35 catches are good for second on the team. Plus, he has run for a touchdown this year.

And, yet, every time Ohio State coaches and players are asked about the 6-foot-3, 215-pound phenom, they mention his maturity and demeanor before any of that.

“Yeah, I think there’s a maturity to Jeremiah that most freshmen, or most people, don’t have, especially at that age,” said Buckeyes offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, who served as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers last decade.

“He is as serious a football player as I’ve been around, and his goal every single day is just to improve, and it’s just for him to get better at one facet of the game. It’s almost like you’re dealing with a 10-year NFL veteran in terms of how he approaches meetings, how he approaches practice. And it’s really — it’s rare.”

Kelly went on: “Obviously, when you meet Jeremiah, his physical skills are not even comparable for someone at that age, but I think it’s his maturity level that that really has set him apart. Because there’s a lot of guys that could get caught up in that, in the hype and everything talking about him, and all the people they’re comparing him to and all that, but you don’t see that out of him.”

Kelly said Smith is the kind of player who is “genuinely not happy” if he’s ever pulled out of a play during practice. He wants to practice, Kelly emphasized.

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day echoed that sentiment Tuesday.

“The way he’s on the field, he doesn’t want to miss reps,” Day said. “He’ll stay after practice and make sure that he’s running the reps with the quarterbacks to make sure the timing is right with Will. So all those things lead to execution on the field.”

Smith’s work ethic has been on display ever since he arrived on campus this winter as an early enrollee.

This spring, he became the first Ohio State true freshman to ever shed his black stripe in only four practices.

This summer, Smith became the first true freshman in program history to earn the rank of “Iron Buckeye,” according to Buckeyes players and coaches who spoke to the media in preseason. To Ohio State, an “Iron Buckeye” is someone who showcases “unquestionable training, dedication, determination, discipline, toughness and leadership” during winter and summer workouts. Strength and conditioning coach Mickey Marotti picked 10 of them this year, including Smith, a product of Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory in Hollywood, Florida, and a native of Miami Gardens.

“His consistency and the way he practices is very mature for a young player,” Day said, “and now you’re getting into the second half of the season, and sometimes some of those freshmen can can start to fray a little bit. That’s not the way he’s been. I mean, he’s been better every week — the way he’s practiced, the way he’s handling himself and his preparation on a week-to-week basis, taking care of his body, making sure he knows the game plan, getting himself ready to go play in these games.

“And I thought, for a young player, he handled the environment a couple weeks ago [at Oregon] really well. He’s going to walk in another environment here [at Penn State], but he’ll be ready. You know, that week of preparation right here leading up to the game is going to be critical, but, up to this point, that’s been excellent.”

Smith caught nine passes for 100 yards and a touchdown in a heartbreaking 32-31 loss against the top-ranked Ducks. He’ll have another chance to make his mark on the national stage this week at Penn State.

If he slows down in Beaver Stadium, it’s probably because he’s at the doorstep of the end zone.