There was a time when Jeremiah Smith was a national freshman sensation, racking up yards game after game and earning accolades. There wasn’t probably much on his mind then, apart from taking gravity-defying catches. Those days are over now. As Jeremiah Smith enters his third season, he has more responsibility at Ohio State.

“We got a lot of young guys, especially in the receiver room, and a whole new team,” Jeremiah Smith said to the Columbus Dispatch. “We got 51 new guys that don’t know the culture of Ohio State. And we got to teach them the way things are run, and that’s win, brotherhood, and tough love. We got to teach them that.” Smith’s right, what’s more important than culture at Ohio State?

Ryan Day’s entire Ohio State tenure has been built on amplifying the elements that were already there. The head coach retained the Iron Buckeye program from Urban Meyer. Not just that, Meyer also started the famous ‘black stripe’ tradition, something all newcomers have to go through to earn their place in the team. Ryan Day retained that, too, and Jeremiah Smith passed all those cultural tests with hard work. Now’s the time to instill the culture in the newcomers.

The Buckeyes added 51 new players during the offseason. At the same time, they lost 32 players from a team that won a national championship two years ago and sent 4 players into the top 11 of the 2026 NFL draft. To keep the roster productive, Ryan Day brought in a total of 18 players from the transfer portal and has 28 high school commits this season. Those players include Chris Henry Jr., Cincere Johnson, and Jay Timmons, among others.

Jeremiah Smith knows full well that all incoming players this year are talented. Why else would Ryan Day and Co. take them in if that wasn’t the case? What he’s unsure of is whether the players would show the same hard work, persistence, and ‘never back down’ attitude like his predecessors showed and instilled in him. And to achieve that, Smith is expecting to become the team’s captain.

“That’s one of the big things I want to accomplish before I leave Ohio State,” Smith said about his desire to become OSU’s captain. “It’s probably one of the biggest things, becoming more of a leader.” For now, though, OSU has two returning captains in Brandon Inniss and Austin Siereveld, and they will likely win that role again. Since the team needs more captains to wear that Block O, Jeremiah Smith will probably be the leading candidate as the fall camp rolls in.

Ryan Day has spent years building a culture centered on competition and accountability. Earlier this spring, Day described Ohio State’s environment, saying that players are surrounded by teammates who share the same mindset. Even Linebackers coach James Laurinaitis added that Ohio State challenges players every day and expects them to embrace discomfort because they grow when they are uncomfortable. Smith is just relaying that same idea, helping Ryan Day.

Jeremiah Smith still carries the scars of the previous season

Jeremiah Smith’s growing leadership role has been building for months. In March, he said he wanted to continue being “the hardest-working person on the team.” Not just that, he also admitted it felt strange to become one of the older players in the receiver room so quickly. A star player can surely help win games, but a leader leaves a timeless impression that reverberates with his successor. That’s probably what OSU’s ace WR desires.

“Not good enough, not at Ohio State,” Smith said, per ON3, about his team’s performance last season against Miami. “That’s why they pay us, why they pay Coach (Ryan) Day, to reach all our goals. The first one is to beat the team up north. Then it’s winning the Big Ten championship, and the third one is winning the national championship. It’s the reason you come to Ohio State, to accomplish those three things, and I feel like this year we’ve got a very good chance to do that.”

Players such as Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Marvin Harrison Jr. all came through the program and followed the same ‘culture’ before reaching the NFL. Smith understands that history, which is why his message shows that the responsibility no longer belongs solely to Ryan Day and the coaching staff. And for Ohio State, protecting that culture may be just as important as any touchdown Smith catches this fall.