Arthur Smith Already Understands Jeremiah Smith’s Importance to Ohio State Buckeyes

The Ohio State Buckeyes have already started to hit the ground running in spring practice. Recently-hired offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, who succeeded Brain Hartline, has begun to grow famiiliar and has taken a liking to his receiver room.

More specifically, when it comes to wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.

Jeremiah Smith, who enters his third season in Columbus with tremendous NFL upside, has already impressed his new coordinator enough that a burning question was thrown Arthur Smith's way at a recent media scrum, including toward Eleven Warriors' Chase Brown.

In a simple, yet hillarious answer, Arthur Smith caught himself in a laugh when asked whether there would be too much production from a Julian Sayin-Jeremiah Smith combination this fall.

"No," Arthur Smith said.

What Arthur Smith's comments mean for Ohio State

Therefore, Smith's expectations this season are clear: see ball, get ball and turn on the afterburners in the open field.

ESPN's Adam Rittenberg recently suggested the pressure is on coach Ryan Day's Buckeyes to make a deep run this fall after failing to reach consecutive national title games this past season while also coming up short last December in Indianapolis against the eventual national champion Indiana Hoosiers in the Big Ten title game.

"Is the Big Ten different?" Rittenberg asked during a segment on 97.1 The Fan. "When Ohio State was annually winning 11 games, it wasn’t the league that it is now. You look at the depth, look at Indiana coming out of nowhere to be a sustained national power, coming off a national championship. Look at Oregon, they’ve been the best on-field addition to the Big Ten, maybe since Penn State."

But when it comes to Ohio State, it's nine wins or a failure for Day's team to consider the season a success, much less qualifying for a CFP berth.

“They’ve been a big addition in terms of top-10 or top-five teams," Rittenberg added. "USC is getting better and then you have a very difficult non-conference game on the road against a Texas team that is facing real pressure to win a national championship. Certainly less than nine wins is not acceptable in Columbus, but it’s going to be a more taxing schedule.”

The Buckeyes begin Big Ten play Sept. 26, as they will host a surging Illinois Fighting Illini team that has won 19 games in its last two seasons under coach Bret Bielema. Ohio State won its meeting with the Illini in Champaign last October, 34-16.

We'll see if the Smith's confidence in one another can hear Rittenberg's words clearly, which should set up for a very exciting season ahead.