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Every December, we celebrate the best sound bites in college football and a collection of quotes, tweets and memories that exemplify the arc of the season.

Except for the ones by Mike Leach. They always seemed to be about anything but football. Leach, who died last week at 61, was the most quotable coach in the country and will be remembered as the most unpredictable, yet most anticipated, interview in the history of the sport.

So, like Leach, we won’t waste any time getting to the good stuff. Presenting the 2022 Mike Leach Memorial Quotes of the Year.

Leach’s legacy

SEC Network’s Alyssa Lang got some personal advice from The Pirate on her upcoming wedding. “We’ll keep a close eye on it,” he said. “But whatever you and Trevor decide, I would keep it on the down-low, which you failed to do that.” Listen to the rest of his advice here.

After Leach’s death, colleagues and archrivals alike reacted emotionally to the loss. New Mississippi State coach Zach Arnett, Leach’s defensive coordinator who has been named as his replacement, wanted to play the bowl game in Leach’s honor.

“I’m grateful to be part of his final win, hug him and watch him walk off like the winner that he is.”
— Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, whose Rebels lost to Leach and Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl, Leach’s final game, on his sadness over his friend Leach’s death.

“Coach Arnett has made it clear that we’re going to finish what we started and honor Coach Leach. It’s only fitting that we play this game and honor Coach Leach in a stadium that has a pirate ship.”
— Mississippi State interim athletic director Bracky Brett, saying the Bulldogs would play the bowl game despite Leach’s death.

Not to be overshadowed, this Nick Saban reference is brought to you to remind everyone that Leach changed football forever.

Meanwhile, Spurrier’s still got it

“I almost feel sorry for Tennessee. They’re not going to win the division, they’re not going to win the SEC, they’re not going to get in that Final Four. They’re just going to have a little bit better than average year now. Someone told me, ‘Tennessee is probably headed for the Citrus Bowl now.’ I guess that’s kind of a mean thing to say.”
— Noted Vols antagonist Steve Spurrier, who famously said “you can’t spell ‘Citrus’ without U-T” 25 years ago this year to the Charleston Post & Courier after South Carolina’s 63-38 upset of No. 5 Tennessee.

Boy, this seems like forever ago

Jimbo Fisher and Nick Saban dominated headlines in the spring after a comment Saban made followed by a news conference where a fiery Fisher went ballistic.

“We were second in recruiting last year, A&M was first. A&M bought every player on their team. Made a deal for name, image and likeness. We didn’t buy one player. But I don’t know if we will be able to sustain that in the future because more and more people are doing it.”
— Saban, on May 18, speaking to a group of business leaders in Birmingham about how college football recruiting had changed.

“Some people think they’re God. Go dig into how God did his deal. You may find out … a lot of things you don’t want to know. We build him up to be the czar of football. Go dig into his past, or anybody’s that’s ever coached with him. You can find out anything you want to find out, what he does and how he does it. It’s despicable.”
— Fisher ripped Saban, calling him a narcissist, saying “we’re done” and that Saban had called him but he didn’t answer the phone.

“Maybe I can get better from some of these things … I don’t feel any differently. I really don’t because I don’t take things personally. You know, some people take things personally — when they win and when they lose. I mean, when you play pickup basketball, some people take things personally and some people don’t.”
— Saban, on Aug. 25 on how he viewed the spat.

The day a message board poster became a legend

“This $30 million thing is a joke. This idea there’s some fund out there and it was written on BroBible by a guy named Sliced Bread and now all of a sudden the country believes it?”
— Fisher, addressing a rumor that started on message boards and was later aggregated across websites saying the Aggies had a substantial NIL fund to sign their top-rated recruiting class.

Kiffin knows how to keep it going

“We got outbid. Kind of a common theme with that program.”
— Kiffin, on losing defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin to Texas A&M.

After Kiffin and the Rebels beat the Aggies on Oct. 29, piling up 390 yards rushing “against a bunch of five-stars,” as Kiffin kept repeating, he was quick with the jokes when asked if he had a Halloween costume in mind that weekend. Fisher had alluded to Kiffin when talking about “clown acts” in the SEC after Kiffin asked if the Aggies incurred a luxury tax for how much they paid for their signing class.

The Horned Frogs are cooking

“Not really. If I can’t do that, I need to go work for Ricky Chicken at Chicken Express.”
— TCU coach Sonny Dykes, referencing the nickname of Ricky Stuart, owner of a Texas fast food chain, when asked if the fans’ hostility bothered him in his return to play against former school SMU, the Horned Frogs’ Iron Skillet rivals.

Old rivalries die hard, Vol. 1

“They ran for 194 yards against Texas A&M, the number whatever team in the country. They ran for 68 against us. They averaged 1.6 yards per carry — they gave us $1.5 million, but they got 1.6 yards per carry … You know, it just … I don’t know where that came from.”
— Middle Tennessee State coach Rick Stockstill, a Florida State grad, in a radio interview with 104.5 The Zone in Nashville after the Blue Raiders beat Miami 45-31.

Giving ’em the bird

“A chicken is a chicken but a fighting gamecock is something different. This is dumbing down the Gamecocks. Whenever a new coach goes to a school that’s been struggling, you always hear a statement similar to, ‘You’ve got to change the culture.’ I don’t know what ‘culture’ in our day and age means, but if it means making a gamecock look like a chicken, or not hurting him because it might make the chicken feel good, it’s not preserving what we’ve built. This is dumbing down our culture.”
— Ron Albertelli, former owner of South Carolina mascot Big Spur, who is upset that the new mascot handlers, Beth and Van Clark, do not trim the comb, the little red thing on the top of roosters’ heads.

Prime grade beef

“He ain’t SWAC. I’m SWAC, he ain’t SWAC. He’s in the conference, doing a great job, can’t knock that, got a great team, his son should be up for the Heisman Trophy, I love Shedeur, great player, I love what he’s doing for the conference. … But you’re not going to come here and disrespect me and my team and my school and then want a bro hug. Shake my hand and get the hell off.”
— Alabama State coach Eddie Robinson Jr., after refusing a postgame hug with former Jackson State coach Deion Sanders, taking issue with Sanders saying that they were picked as Alabama State’s homecoming opponent because of the crowds and attention that follow Sanders.

“I was a darn good salesman leading up to the week. Did we sell the game out? Did we sell the game out, yes or no? Had they ever been sold out here? So I thought I did my job. I thought I should be applauded, really.”
— Sanders, in response to Robinson’s comments.

Cutting to the chase

Not cutting to the chase

“I’m not going to comment on whether it’s a felony or not, or whether it should’ve been charged as a felony or not, but I think if you do your homework you’re going to realize you can’t compare this to the low-hanging fruit that’s out there. I’d encourage you not to pander to the Twittersphere and really, the haters that like to drink their haterade and eat their hater tots.”
— Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh on Dec. 4 on his decision to play Mazi Smith all season despite an arrest in October on felony concealed weapons charges. Smith pleaded guilty on a misdemeanor charge Dec. 8 and his sentencing will be announced Jan. 12.

They’d still say it’s worth it

“When you first see all the cigars you’re like, what is all that? They got dropped, but then they got shredded. So we had all this tobacco laying everywhere. But between shoes and cigar tubes … we couldn’t get over the amount of clothes. OK, what’d you do, walk out of here nekkid?”
— Tennessee director of sports surface management Darren Seybold, on the trash left behind from fans storming the field after the Vols beat Alabama

Like Dua Lipa said: ‘Don’t show up, don’t come out’

“I tell people all the time, the audacity for other people to even step on the field is disrespectful to me. … People ask me what motivates me, and I say, ‘The audacity for the fans to show up and for the team to come step on the field and play with us.'”
— Alabama outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr., who might just drink haterade and eat hater tots.

Old rivalries die hard, Vol. 2

“I was a little scared of Boz. Boz scared me a little bit. Boz was on a different type of artificial nutrition than I was. Period.”
— Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy, on his memories of his first Bedlam rivalry game in 1986 and playing against Oklahoma legend Brian Bosworth, who had written Gundy’s name on his shoes.

Gundy also had plenty to say at Big 12 media days in the spring, particularly on realignment.

“Well, we all know, conference realignment, it’s kind of almost the old Karen Carpenter ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’ concept. I think it’s just getting started, in my opinion … I like the Carpenters. I heard that song the other day, and the first thing I thought about was conference realignment. I think that she cut that record on the first take. That was a one-take deal.”
— The Oklahoma State coach on a 1970 pop hit and Carpenter’s studio skills.

“It’s interesting. We go to conference meetings, and OU and Texas are in there. They’re still in the conference. But I’m guessing when they leave, they’re scratching down things that can help them when they’re in the SEC. So it is an unusual situation. I think there’s a business side of it that nowadays people say, ‘It is what it is.’ Which, 10 years ago, they might not even let them in meetings. The new commissioner, I mean, honestly, if I was him, I wouldn’t let OU and Texas in any meetings.”
— Gundy on Texas and Oklahoma still being in the Big 12 until (allegedly) 2025 despite plans to move to the SEC, and the advice he has for new Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark

Brian Kelly, man of the world

“Understand now, I have a Boston, Midwestern and Louisiana accent now. So it’s three dialects into one. It’s no longer family — I’ve got all kinds of stuff to throw at you.”
— LSU coach Brian Kelly, at SEC media days, after being mocked for the elongated way he said “fam-uh-lee” in a makeshift Southern accent when he first spoke to LSU fans last December at a basketball game.

That’s good? Or bad?

“There’s two options in life in any situation. You can surrender, and if you surrender, then I think the results are pretty much guaranteed. Or you can dig in, you can continue to fight and you can try to improve and do things better. I will always choose option A. … I wouldn’t be able to go home and look my children in the eye if I wasn’t an option B person. I think I said option A. I started with option surrender, right? That’s not me. Let me be crystal clear about that. That’s number one.”
— Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, on Oct. 12, as Iowa’s offense ranked 131st of 131 teams nationally in total offense.

Cade McNamara, who announced he was transferring from Michigan to Iowa earlier this month, might find some takers.

Michigan’s tunnel vision

“I didn’t get a sandwich thrown at me, but R.J. [Moten] came up to me and said I just got hit with a PB&J in the face. So I guess they were.”
— Michigan offensive lineman Trevor Keegan, who said teammates said food was thrown at them after the Penn State game.

Some B1G twists and turns

“You go to USC and UCLA games, and quite honestly, it’s just kind of boring. Without all the people. They kind of just are there on vacation. You go to the other schools out of state and their fans are kind of like fanatics.”
— Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, on Dec. 29, 2021 (technically, it’s within the last year, since this happened after our list last year).

Then USC and UCLA stunned the college football world in July by announcing they were splitting from the Pac-12.

“We wanted to operate in a position of strength, and that was the Big Ten.”
— UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond, to ESPN on why his school made the move.

“You’re going to wake up watching Big Ten football and go to bed watching Big Ten football. So that’s exciting for our players, exciting for our fans. Will there be a travel component to it? There is, but we’re going to Dublin in the opener, so it won’t be that big of a deal.”
Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald

“I got asked, ‘How are you going to feel when you play your first conference game at SC?’ Just hope I’m f—ing still there.”
Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst, at Big Ten media days July 27. Chryst was fired Oct. 2.

Saban’s dad jokes

“Before you ask, you oughta see the other guy. And you know I took one of the hardest hits of the entire game, and unlike some of our players who had to go to the medical tent … like I always say, they don’t make ’em like they used to.”
— Saban on a cut he suffered when he was hit in the face by a player’s shoulder pad during the Iron Bowl win over Auburn.

Drink it in, Sam

“I think the first couple series are going to be really important to kind of figure out what they’re bringing to the party. Some guys bring iced tea, and some guys bring liquor. You’ve just got to figure out what they’re bringing.
— Arkansas coach Sam Pittman, before the Razorbacks’ season opener against a Cincinnati offense with two quarterbacks still competing to replace four-year starter Desmond Ridder.

“I don’t have a whole lot of friends and I don’t get invited to a whole lot of parties. So I don’t know what I’ll do. I just know who I am. And I guess they’ll find out.”
— Then Bearcats coach Luke Fickell, in response to a question about Pittman’s comment.

After Arkansas’ 31-24 win over Cincinnati, Pittman decided “an ol’ cold beer” is what he was up for after all.

The Dawgs’ dominance

“People ask the question, ‘How does it feel to be hunted?’ We will not be hunted at the University of Georgia. I can promise you that. The hunting we do will be from us going the other direction. We’re not going to sit back and be passive.”
— Georgia coach Kirby Smart, at SEC media days, on life after winning a national championship.

“I told our kids I don’t want one kid to walk out of our program without a championship ring, and that was about to happen. They said enough was enough, and they got them one tonight.”
— Smart, after Georgia’s 50-30 SEC championship game win over LSU gave him his first SEC title since 2017 and the first 13-0 record in school history.

The last word

“Mike [Leach] had a bigger impact on football, whether pro football, high school football or college football, than anybody in my generation. He just changed the way people approach the game. “
— TCU coach Sonny Dykes, a former Leach assistant at Kentucky and Texas Tech

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MLB All-October team: The stars who ruled the 2024 playoffs

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MLB All-October team: The stars who ruled the 2024 playoffs

The 2024 World Series ended with the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the championship in a stunning comeback in Game 5, with Walker Buehler the unlikely pitcher to close out the 7-6 win over the New York Yankees. First baseman Freddie Freeman was handed the World Series MVP award for his record-tying 12-RBI performance.

But that doesn’t tell the full story of everyone who played a starring role this October — a postseason that featured a record six grand slams, among other wildness. So, to honor the best of the entire postseason, we’ve created our first MLB All-October Team.

From wild-card-round sensations to World Series heroes, here are the players our ESPN MLB expert panel voted as the best of the best at every position along with some award hardware for the brightest stars of October.


2024 All-October Team

Catcher: Kyle Higashioka, San Diego Padres

Why he’s here: To be honest, it wasn’t a great playoffs for catchers — they hit just .184/.254/.310. Higashioka is the one catcher who did hit, belting three home runs and driving in five runs in the seven games the Padres played.

Honorable mention: Will Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers


1B: Freddie Freeman, Los Angeles Dodgers

Why he’s here: Freeman didn’t have an extra-base hit and drove in just one run in the first two rounds of the playoffs as he tried to play through the severely sprained ankle he suffered at the end of the regular season. He didn’t even play in two games of the NLCS and required hours of physical therapy before each game just to get on the field. But the five days off before the World Series clearly helped, and he homered in the first four games, including his dramatic walk-off grand slam in Game 1 that will go down as not only the signature World Series moment of 2024 — but a World Series moment for the ages.

Honorable mention: Pete Alonso, New York Mets


2B: Gleyber Torres, New York Yankees

Why he’s here: Torres had a solid October as he heads into free agency, although he had little competition here. Indeed, second basemen collectively hit just .219 with three home runs the entire playoffs — two of those from Torres — and drove in 24 runs, with Torres driving in eight himself. He had three multihit games and scored five runs in five games in the ALCS, while also taking walks to help set the table for Juan Soto.

Honorable mention: Brice Turang, Milwaukee Brewers


3B: Mark Vientos, New York Mets

Why he’s here: Max Muncy set a record when he reached base 17 times in the NLCS, including a single-postseason-record 12 times in a row, but he went hitless in the World Series. Vientos, meanwhile, had a stellar first trip to the postseason, hitting .327/.362/.636 with five home runs and 14 RBIs in 13 games. That followed a breakout regular season in which he posted an .837 OPS with 27 home runs in just 111 games. He looks like he’ll be a fixture in the middle of the Mets’ lineup for years to come.

Honorable mention: Muncy, Los Angeles Dodgers


SS: Tommy Edman, Los Angeles Dodgers

Why he’s here: Edman was an under-the-radar pickup at the trade deadline, in part because he was still injured and hadn’t yet played for the St. Louis Cardinals. Most of Edman’s starts came at shortstop, especially after Miguel Rojas was injured in the NLDS, but his bat got him here. Edman was the NLCS MVP after hitting .407 with a record-tying 11 RBIs in the series. He had started at cleanup just twice in his career but was slotted there twice against the Mets, driving in seven runs in those two games. Then he went 2-for-4 in each of the first two games of the World Series, including a home run in Game 2, and finished the Fall Classic hitting .294/.400/.588 with six runs.

Honorable mention: Francisco Lindor, New York Mets


OF: Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers
OF: Juan Soto, New York Yankees
OF: Enrique Hernandez, Los Angeles Dodgers

Why they’re here: Betts entered this postseason in a 3-for-38 postseason slump going back to the end of the 2021 NLCS — and it initially looked like it would be more of the same when he went 0-for-6 the first two games of the NLDS, including a robbed home run courtesy of Jurickson Profar. Everything turned in Game 3 when Profar almost robbed him of another home run — but didn’t. After that, Betts was in the middle of most of the Dodgers’ big rallies, hitting .321/.394/.625 with four home runs and 16 RBIs over the Dodgers’ final 14 playoff games.

Soto’s at-bats spoke for themselves: He never seemed to have a bad one. His big at-bat was the three-run home run in the 10th inning of Game 5 of the ALCS to send the Yankees to the World Series. Getting intentionally walked twice while batting in front of Aaron Judge speaks to Judge’s struggles, yes — but also to how locked in Soto was all postseason. He finished the postseason slashing .327/.469/.633 with 4 home runs, 9 RBIs and 14 walks in 14 games.

Hernandez actually began October on the bench, but we’ve seen him perform big in the postseason before, and he stepped up when Miguel Rojas was injured in the NLDS. Hernandez homered in the Dodgers’ 2-0 victory to close out the Padres in the NLDS, had a big two-run home run against the Mets in Game 3 of the NLCS and got the series-turning five-run rally against the Yankees in Game 5 started with a leadoff single in the fifth as well as the series-winning rally in the eighth with another leadoff base hit. Overall, he hit .294/.357/.451 with 11 runs and six RBIs.

Honorable mentions: Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians; Teoscar Hernandez, Los Angeles Dodgers; Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres


DH: Giancarlo Stanton, New York Yankees

Why he’s here: The Yankees were often a two-man show in the postseason, just like they were in the regular season — except it was Soto and Stanton, not Soto and Judge. Stanton blasted seven home runs throughout the playoffs, including in the final three games of the ALCS (earning MVP honors) and in Games 1 and 5 of the World Series. He finished the playoffs hitting .273/.339/.709, and those seven homers are the most in a single postseason in Yankees history.

Honorable mention: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers; David Fry, Cleveland Guardians


SP: Gerrit Cole, New York Yankees
SP: Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers

Why they’re here: Certainly, it seems as if the status of the starting pitcher in the postseason continues to decline — although, that doesn’t mean they’re not important. There were certainly some stellar individual outings along the way: Corbin Burnes allowed one run in eight innings (but lost 1-0) for the Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler allowed one hit in seven scoreless innings (but that would be his only start) and the Padres’ Michael King fanned 12 to beat the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS. Skubal had two scoreless starts against the Houston Astros in the wild-card series and Cleveland Guardians in the ALDS, confirming his status as one of the best in the game — or maybe the best, as his soon-to-be AL Cy Young Award will attest.

Cole was really the one consistent starter throughout the postseason, making five starts with a 2.17 ERA. Unfortunately, that ERA doesn’t register the five unearned runs from the final game of the World Series when the Yankees’ defense turned into a comedy of errors — including Cole himself opening up the floodgates by failing to cover first base to get what would have been the inning-ending out.

Honorable mention: Walker Buehler, Los Angeles Dodgers; Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers; Sean Manaea, New York Mets; Seth Lugo, Kansas City Royals


RP: Luke Weaver, New York Yankees
RP: Blake Treinen, Los Angeles Dodgers

Why they’re here: It also wasn’t the best of postseasons for closers — not even great ones. The Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase allowed five earned runs all regular season — and then eight in the playoffs. Milwaukee Brewers closer Devin Williams blew that wild-card game against the Mets. All-Star Jeff Hoffman lost two games for the Phillies. Weaver, however, was the one consistent late-game performer and was great while often pitching more than one inning. He posted a 1.76 ERA across 15⅓ innings. Who knows how the World Series ends if Yankees manager Aaron Boone keeps Weaver in the game in the 10th inning of Game 1. (Weaver had thrown just 19 pitches.)

Treinen, meanwhile, capped his comeback season — he had missed almost all of 2022 and then all of 2023 — with a 2.19 ERA across 12⅓ innings, winning two games and saving three others. In the World Series clincher, he recorded seven outs and got out of a two-on, no-out jam in the eighth inning to preserve the Dodgers’ 7-6 lead before handing the ball to Buehler to close out the ninth.

Honorable mention: Cade Smith, Cleveland Guardians; Michael Kopech, Los Angeles Dodgers; Beau Brieske, Detroit Tigers


All-October Award Winners

October MVP: Freddie Freeman

Pitchers of the month: Gerrit Cole, Walker Buehler (tie)

Best October introduction: Mark Vientos

Clutch performer: Freeman

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SMU QB Jennings cleared for Pitt showdown

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SMU QB Jennings cleared for Pitt showdown

SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings has been medically cleared for the top-20 clash with Pittsburgh this weekend and will start for the Mustangs on Saturday night, coach Rhett Lashlee told ESPN.

Jennings has been described as being among a “bunch of beat-up guys” by Lashlee and was listed as questionable heading into the game. His injury has not been disclosed. He required medical clearance to play Saturday night, sources had told ESPN earlier in the week. That clearance came late this week, Lashlee said.

Jennings is 5-0 as a starter this season for No. 20 SMU, which hosts a key matchup against No. 18 Pitt. Jennings is 6-1 in his career as a starter and has emerged as the engineer of one of the ACC’s most dangerous offenses.

He has thrown for 1,594 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions this season. He completed 21 of 27 passes in a road win at Louisville and threw for 322 yards in a win at Stanford. Jennings has also run for 321 yards and three touchdowns.

Both quarterbacks in Saturday’s game had some ambiguity around their status. Pitt’s Eli Holstein was also cleared late in the week, coach Pat Narduzzi announced on his radio show Wednesday.

Both teams are undefeated in ACC play, as Pitt enters 7-0 overall (3-0 ACC) for the first time since 1982. SMU is 7-1 overall (4-0 ACC), with its only loss coming early in the year to undefeated BYU.

Jennings took a hit that Lashlee has called “a real shot” during SMU’s game at Duke on Saturday night. He threw three interceptions in the 28-27 SMU win.

In ACC play, SMU’s offense ranks No. 3 in scoring with 36.0 points per game. The Mustangs also rank third with 477.3 yards per league game.

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‘Nothing like him’: Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith a ‘generational talent’

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'Nothing like him': Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith a 'generational talent'

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.

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.

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 played called,” Bailey said. “This is a clutch moment. But JJ [Jeremiah] 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 fourth overall 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.”

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