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EX-Buckeye Coach LEAKS Shocking TRUTH About Ohio State STAR You Can't MISS! · College Football Addiction: A Show About All Things College Football

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up, Buckeyes?
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: Thank you for joining us on College Football Addiction today.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: We are presented by Price Picks. There's a pretty massive
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: spotlight that shines down on the Ohio State Buckeyes football
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: team right now, and the expectations heading into this season
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: could not be any higher. National praise is already rolling in,
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: but anyone who watched how last year ended already knows
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: that summer hype does not erase winter heartbreak. Inside of
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: the building, the focus is not on external validation, but
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: on fixing the exact weaknesses that stalled a potential championship run.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Between key physical adjustments on offense and significant staff turnover
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: in the meeting rooms, this program is quietly reshaping its identity.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: The star power on this team is undeniable, but the
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: pressure to execute when the windows.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Get tight has never been greater.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: There are massive questions facing this roster as camp winds
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: down and finishes up, and the answers to those questions
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: will define whether or not this group can finish the job.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: So let's jump into things.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: Ohio State opens the 20-26 season sitting at No. 1
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: in the AP Top 25 poll. The Buckeyes pulled 40
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: of 69 first-place.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: Votes, holding off No. 2 Oregon, who drew in 14th.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: That marks the ninth time Ohio State has started a
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: season on top of the poll and their first time
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: doing so since 2015. Those nine preseason No. 1 rankings
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: tie Alabama for the second most in poll history, sitting
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: behind only Oklahoma's 10. There is a much bigger streak
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: that's buried inside of those numbers, though. It's the first
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: time since Clemson in 2020 that a team from outside
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: the SEC has debuted at No. 1. Alabama, Georgia, and
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: Texas have taking turns wearing that crown, but the run
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: of the SEC is officially over. Big Ten fans got
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: a second bragging point, even if it is rarer than
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: the first. The conference owns both of the top two
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: preseason spots for the first time in 65 years. The
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: last time that happened was 1961, when Iowa sat at No.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: 1 and Ohio State was No. 2. For the record,
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: the only truly unanimous preseason No. 1 in AP history
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: is still belongs to Ohio State. That 2015 team swept
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: all 61 first-place votes, a mark this year's squad approached,
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: but did not match. The rest of the top five
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: explains exactly why the vote was split. Georgia sits at three,
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: Notre Dame at four, and Texas at five, defending national
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: champion Indiana lands sixth. Five different teams received first-place votes,
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: which tells you that voters see a wide race instead
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: of a single coronation. Ohio State entered last season's playoff
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: as title favorites, yet they ranked fifth to finish the year.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: Because of that, a preseason number one does not feel
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: like a reward inside of the building.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: It feels more like a receipt.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: Ohio State has been handed the top spot in August
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  Speaker 2: nine times now, and the program carries enough scar tissue
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: to know that a summer poll guarantees nothing in January.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: Voters were not grading last January, though, when they filled
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: out their brackets this year. They were grading what came
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: back to Columbus. They saw a returning quarterback who led
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: the country in accuracy. They saw a receiver who has
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: already rewritten the record books in just two seasons.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: They saw a roster that's.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: Loaded enough to make 40 first-place votes look completely reasonable.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: A poll, though, cannot fix the flaw that actually ended
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: Ohio State's championship run, though. Ohio State did not lose
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: that quarterfinal because they ran out of talent. They lost
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: because the offense stalled in the one part of the
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: field where talent matters least. Inside of the 20, the
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: field shrinks, windows close quickly, and every throw gets a
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: lot harder. That was a glaring weakness for Ohio State,
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: and it showed up in the two biggest games that
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: the Buckeyes played. That's why the most important story of
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: fall camp to me is not about a ranking. It
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: is about a number on a scale. Before I get
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: to that, I want to give some love to our
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: friends over at PrizePix. I've already mentioned him, not by name,
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: but I'm going to tell you something. That's a huge
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: number sitting underneath Jeremiah Smith's name right there. And I
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: like him to hit the more. I also like throwing
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: Malachi Tony in. I know that's probably not your favorite
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: person to have me talk about, but I like pairing
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: both of those together and taking the more on both
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: of their receiving yardage totals for the season. Go on
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: the PrizePix app, use our code HMA. All new users
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: there who win their first $ 5 lineup get $ 150 in
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: lineups instantly. We'll be doing a lot with PrizePix this year,
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: so go check them out. Again, that code is HMA.
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: Julian Sayen showed up for fall camp looking noticeably thicker.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: After the third practice, he told reporters, yeah, I'm about
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  Speaker 2: 215 now. That's up from the 208 that he was
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  Speaker 2: listed at last season. It's also 12 pounds heavier than
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: the 203 pounds he weighed when he arrived from Alabama
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: in 2024. He said, Coach Mick pushed me pretty hard,
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  Speaker 2: and I think the extra weight has helped me in
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: throwing the ball and running the ball.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: Ryan Day has.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: Been highlighting this transformation ever since Big Ten media days
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: in Chicago in late July. He said, when you look
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: in his eye now, you see a different person and
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: you see a different body. He said he's worked hard,
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: he's gotten stronger, and he's found his voice even more.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: And I think he's poised for a great season. The
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: extra weight is not random.
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: It is aimed.
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  Speaker 2: Directly at two specific knocks on his 2025 season. The
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: first was a lack of willingness to run. Sand was
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: just one of six Big Ten starting QBs with negative
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: rushing yards last year. He finished at minus 44 yards
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  Speaker 2: on 42 carries. The second knock was red zone efficiency.
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: He was the most accurate passer in the FBS at 77%.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: His drop in the red zone was nearly 10 percentage
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  Speaker 2: points in the smallest, most valuable part of the field.
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: His fix in his own words starts from the ground up.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: He said, being able to add some weight and improve
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: strength and have a stronger base, a little bit stronger
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: legs is able to increase that pace. Then he repeated
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: the line his head coach drills into him every single day.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: He said, Coach Jay always says there's nobody open in
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: the red zone. Every window is going to be tight
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: and you've got to throw it with a ton of pace.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: Observers at camp say the extra velocity is already showing
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: up during red zone periods. When the pads came on
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: for the first time, something else showed up too. Sayan,
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: who is normally about as even keeled as a quarterback gets,
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: was seen barking back at the defense after several plays.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: He's going into his second full season. He's a junior
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: but has sophomore-level eligibility.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: That'll be something we have to talk about every time
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: we talk about somebody's age from now on with all
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: these new rules in place. He's got one season and
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: a 14-career start advantage behind him. He also carries two
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: games that he cannot erase. He was underwhelming in the
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: Big Ten title game against Indiana, and I think he
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: was underwhelming again in.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: The playoff loss to Miami.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: The weight, the velocity, and the new edge all point
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: in the same direction. There is a problem hiding inside
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: of that fix, though. A stronger arm firing into tight
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: windows only works if someone on the other end wins
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: those contested catches. And San is throwing to a receiver
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: room that has been rebuilt around him. Carnell Tate is gone,
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: and there is a new position coach in the building.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: That means the pressure lands.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: On one player.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: And on the mentor who is no longer even there
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: to coach him. Brandon Marcello of CBS Sports recently did
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: a long-form profile of Jeremiah Smith, and if you haven't
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: read it yet, you certainly should. It produced the quote
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: that Buckeye fans will hopefully be repeating all fall. It
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: came from the man who recruited him, former Ohio State
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: receivers coach and offensive coordinator Brian Hartline, now the head
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: coach at USF. Coach Hartline said he has the right mentality.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: He wants to be the greatest of all time, and
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: he's willing to put in the work to be the
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: greatest of all time. That's the formula. Hartline then separated
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: Smith from the long line of NFL receivers he coached
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: across nine years in Columbus. He said Jeremiah's mentality and
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: the way he hit it from the first day on
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: campus was a little different than maybe the other guys,
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: because usually it takes a little more time to kind
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: of form into that. but he had it from day one.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: And the receipts back it up. Smith lost his black
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: stripe during 2024 spring practice on one of the fastest
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: timelines in program history. Harline, who took the USF job
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: before the Big Ten championship game, also joked publicly that
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: Smith could have followed him to Tampa. He said, yeah,
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: we had a deal worked out, but I just decided
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: to tell him it was probably better for him to
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: stay at Ohio State instead of coming down here. On
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: the triple option with Urban Meyer, Hartline went even a
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: step further. He said, Jeremiah is my guy, but OSU
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: is in that offense. And with Julian saying, what are
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: we talking about? Go win a national championship and I'll
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: see you in the pros. The numbers explain the confidence
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: in this kid. Smith enters 2026 with 163 catches, 2,558
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: yards and 27 touchdowns in just two seasons. He's only
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: 311 yards away from becoming Ohio State's all-time leading wide receiver.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: Emeka Ibuka's program record of 205 receptions is also well
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: within reach this fall. He'll chase both marks under a
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: brand new position coach, Cortez Hankton, hired away from LSU.
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: Tate is gone, and five-star freshman Chris Henry Jr. has
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: joined the room. Smith has even returned the favor to
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: his old coach in public, telling recruits, they got a
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: good coach, so I feel like everybody should go to
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: USF because that man is going to develop you into
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: a first-rounder. Put all of these three threads together and
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: the picture sharpens. The poll says Ohio State is the
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: best team in the country. The quarterback added 12 pounds
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: specifically to attack the tightest windows on the field. And
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: the receiver, waiting in those windows, wants to be the
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: greatest of all time. Notice what is missing from that picture, though.
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: The coach who shaped that mentality is now running his
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: own program in Tampa.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: So the chain is set.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: Ohio State holds a preseason number one ranking for the
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: first time in over a decade. A quarterback rebuilt for
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: the smallest part of the field and a receiver chasing
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: two program records under a brand new coach. All three
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: lead to the same unanswered test, which is waiting for
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: the Buckeyes this season and the games that are not
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: very far away, which will decide whether or not August
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: ever even mattered at all. Let me know your thoughts
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: down in the comments below. I cannot wait for football
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: to be back. It is just less than two weeks away,
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: and we will continue to talk about it until kickoff
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: and then every day beyond. We'll talk to you guys
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: soon on College Football Addiction.