Bill Belichick’s buyout, Jeremiah Smith’s ceiling and the next freshman superstar

The calander has flipped to June, the college football offseason is in full swing, and Bill Belichick is still dominating headlines before coaching a game at North Carolina.

Belichick was in the news again this weekend as Sunday marked the day his massive buyout with the Tar Heels dropped from $10 million to $1 million. With an ongoing offseason saga surrounding the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach and his girlfriend, Jordan Hudson, is it possible Belichick leaves UNC before coaching a single game?

While Belichick has dominated off-the-field headlines this season, all eyes have been on this year's group of superstars and their play on the field. That includes Ohio State standout Jeremiah Smith, who is coming off one of the greatest individual freshman seasons for a wide receiver in college football history. What does Smith have in store for his sophomore season, and is there another incoming freshman who could put together a historic season like Smith had last year?

FOX Sports college football writers Laken Litman, Michael Cohen and RJ Young are here to answer all of those questions in this week's roundtable.

Bill Belichick and North Carolina have been one of the most talked-about stories in college football this offseason. With the media spectacle that has surrounded UNC since Belichick was named the head coach and his buyout dropping from $10M to $1M, do you believe Belichick will be the coach of the Tar Heels when they take the field on Sept. 1 against TCU?

Laken Litman: Yes. It has been a tumultuous spring at North Carolina: from the "CBS Sunday Morning" interview with Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson, to reports that Hudson was banned from the UNC football facilities, to athletic director Bubba Cunningham needing to comment on all of the above, to former head coach Mack Brown saying publicly that the program has "lowered its standards" and should be successful on the field. And yet, through all of that, Belichick and UNC are still together.

While the buyout decrease raises eyebrows, that was a detail ironed out by both parties from the beginning. It’s only now, because it’s become public, that this relationship is back in the headlines. However, the buyout only becomes applicable if Belichick leaves on his own. Right now, with less than two months before the college football season begins, there’s a feeling that Belichick is going to stay put and be the coach to lead the Tar Heels out vs. TCU on Sept. 1.

RJ Young: Yes, because now we’re talking about Belichick’s reputation as a coach like we never have before. Never before has a Power 4 coach’s girlfriend dominated a coach’s first offseason like Jordon Hudson’s emergence this year. In a matter of months, Belichick’s ability to lead UNC on the field has come under scrutiny alongside that of the very real and valid question of whether he can be successful at a proud UNC program. Success at North Carolina in Year 1 has to start with going bowling.

It’s not going to be easy to find production in the backfield after Omarion Hampton’s departure. At UNC, he rushed for at least 1,500 yards in back-to-back seasons. But a team having immediate success in the ACC is not unprecedented, as SMU showed it could compete right away last season. Belichick will coach UNC this year, and certainly will make it to Week 1 against TCU. But whether or not he keeps his aura as one of the greatest coaches football has seen — past or present — is the more interesting question.

Michael Cohen: Yes, Belichick will be on the sideline come Sept. 1. Independent of everything that’s been said and written about his relationship with Hudson, whose seemingly ubiquitous presence should be considered at least mildly concerning, Belichick remains the same fierce — and fiercely stubborn — competitor who won six Super Bowls as head coach of the New England Patriots, elevating himself into the conversation for greatest coach in NFL history. The desire and defiance it took to reach those heights, not to mention the sheer intelligence and football acumen, are the very traits that could reasonably have strengthened his desire to succeed at North Carolina in the face of such noxious media coverage in recent weeks. After all, what better way to silence the critics than to win games on the field and prove to everyone in both sports circles and pop culture havens alike that he is perfectly capable of delineating between his personal life and professional success?

But simply doubling down and digging in is no guarantee that things will unfold as planned at North Carolina, which has only won 10 games in a season once in the 21st century. Not only must the Tar Heels replace a first-round pick at running back in Omarion Hampton, as RJ mentioned, but the recruiting efforts across the first few months of Belichick’s tenure have also left plenty to be desired. North Carolina’s batch of 2025 high school recruits only includes one player ranked among the top 400 nationally in four-star quarterback Bryce Baker (No. 86 overall, No. 8 QB). And the Tar Heels’ transfer portal crop, which currently sits ninth in the national rankings, is being propped up by the sheer volume of newcomers — 41 — rather than the overall talent. The average prospect score of 86.82 ranks 21st in the country, behind schools like Wisconsin, Kentucky, Maryland.

Still, it’s unlikely Belichick would depart without a fight.

Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith made headlines last week when he was announced as one of the cover athletes for EA Sports’ "College Football 26." As the headlines and preseason accolades continue to roll in for Smith, what is the realistic ceiling for Smith heading into his sophomore year?

Michael: Given everything that Jeremiah Smith accomplished as a true freshman last season — from earning first-team All-American honors and winning Big Ten Wide Receiver of the Year to shattering every freshman record held by Ohio State receiving legend Cris Carter and then leading the Buckeyes to the national championship with several otherworldly performances during the College Football Playoff — his ceiling in 2025 is becoming a legitimate contender for the Heisman Trophy, which hasn’t been won by a full-time wide receiver since former Alabama star DeVonta Smith, then a senior, secured the honor in 2020. That season, which ended with the Crimson Tide winning a national title, DeVonta Smith caught a staggering 117 passes for 1,856 yards and 23 touchdowns in just 13 games, a product of the four-team playoff format still in existence at the time. Devonta Smith’s per-game averages dwarfed what Jeremiah Smith manufactured while catching 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns across 16 games at Ohio State last fall, illuminating a gulf the younger Smith must bridge if he wants to challenge for the award this fall:

DeVonta Smith per game in 2020: 9 catches, 142.8 yards, 1.8 touchdowns

Jeremiah Smith per game in 2024: 4.8 catches, 82.2 yards, 0.9 touchdowns

Of course, the legitimacy of Jeremiah Smith’s potential Heisman Trophy campaign will be shaped by certain factors beyond his control. Ohio State lost offensive coordinator Chip Kelly to the NFL and replaced him with Brian Hartline, the Buckeyes’ longtime wide receiver coach and co-offensive coordinator, who will be calling plays for the first time. And one of Hartline’s most important tasks between now and the season-opener against Texas will be combining with head coach Ryan Day and quarterbacks coach Billy Fessler to select and prepare the right successor to Will Howard, be that former five-star recruit Julian Sayin or dual-threat athlete Lincoln Kienholz.

Still, Jeremiah Smith is well-aware of how frequently his name will be mentioned in Heisman conversations between now and the regular season. When asked about the award in a recent interview with FOX Sports, he said the following: "I definitely want to win it, but I’m just all about the team first. I just want to win that big one, that national championship. That’s all I really care about, just winning."

Laken: Jeremiah Smith should be the best offensive player in the country and is certainly an early Heisman Trophy front-runner. We’ve seen what kind of magic he can pull off when Ohio State emphasizes its passing game – like when he went off for 161 yards with two touchdowns in the first half of the College Football Playoff quarterfinal against Oregon last year. And now, with former wide receiver and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline being promoted to offensive coordinator, that seems like it could be a priority for the program.

Of course, there’s one major question mark as it pertains to the Buckeyes’ offense and Smith’s production this season: who will be the next quarterback? The battle is between Sayin and Kienholz, with true freshman Tavien St. Clair waiting in the wings. Whoever wins the job will have a lethal weapon to lean on, but they have to find ways to get the ball to him first. If they can, and if Smith can make plays for his QB, he could take home all the post-season awards and be a major reason why Ohio State makes another CFP run.

RJ: Realistically, he ought to have the best sophomore season any Buckeye receiver has ever enjoyed. Last season, it took the Buckeyes more than half the year to finally settle on the idea that if they featured Smith in the passing game, that would make the offense that much more dynamic and formidable. As they did, they began to win. When he put up seven catches for 187 yards in basically one half of football against the No. 1-ranked Oregon Ducks, he set down a marker for 2025. When he caught the game-ceiling catch for Ohio State’s national title, he ascended to the top of the sport as its best player.

What’s more? Smith’s true freshman season was better than any season Marvin Harrison, Jr., enjoyed, and he is perhaps the best Buckeye receiver of all-time. Though Harrison, Jr. won the Biletnikoff Award in 2023 after catching 67 passes for 1,211 yards with 14 TDs and averaged better than 100 yards per game, his best statistical year came in 2022 as a sophomore when he caught 77 passes for 1,267 yards with 14 TDs in 13 games.

Through 16 games last season, Smith notched 1,315 yards on 76 catches with 15 TDs. The three extra games matter, and I won’t pretend they don’t. But Smith was just a true freshman and hardly the focus of the offense until late in the season — unlike Harrison, Jr. in 2023, who was responsible for nearly a third of all Ohio State passing yards that season.

There’s no reason Smith can’t put together the kind of season Jaxon Smith-Njigba did in 2021 when he caught 95 passes for 1,606 yards in 13 games. And he might not need a 300-yard performance to do it.

Speaking of Smith, the Buckeyes’ standout wide receiver had a memorable freshman season, helping lead Ohio State to its first national title since 2014. Is there a freshman that could have a similar impact this upcoming season?

RJ: Oregon wideout Dakorien Moore sprang to mind. If we’re looking for someone who can do what Smith did, the No. 1 wideout in the 2025 class is my favorite candidate. In his last season of high school at Duncanville (Texas), he caught 67 passes for 1,322 yards with 18 touchdowns on a team that finished 13-1. If he can replicate those numbers as a true freshman, Smith would be the company he keeps.

Michael: It’s an interesting question because the freshman best positioned to make a significant impact in 2025 is probably Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 overall recruit in the country and presumed front-runner to win the starting job this fall. But the likelihood of a true freshman quarterback lifting the Wolverines from tied for seventh in the Big Ten standings, which is where they finished last fall under first-year head coach Sherrone Moore, all the way to a legitimate national title contender, seems a touch farfetched. Underwood’s sophomore and junior seasons will be the years when Michigan can realistically be expected to challenge the sport’s best teams.

RJ’s selection of Dakorien Moore, the highest-rated wide receiver in this year’s class, is a wise choice given that the Ducks lost leading receivers Tez Johnson (898 yards, 10 TDs) and Traeshon Holden (718 yards, five TDs) to the NFL. Moore could very easily play his way into a starting role during fall camp and become a go-to target for presumptive starting quarterback Dante Moore, another former five-star recruit, opposite returning speedster Evan Stewart (613 yards, five TDs).

One more name to watch is Texas wide receiver Kaliq Lockett, the No. 18 overall prospect and No. 2 wideout in the 2025 recruiting cycle. Lockett, who enrolled early to participate in spring practice, is joining a passing attack aiming to replace the production of its top three targets in wideout Matthew Golden (987 yards, nine TDs), tight end Gunnar Helm (786 yards, seven TDs) and wideout Isaiah Bond (540 yards, five TDs). Head coach Steve Sarkisian, who doubles as the offensive play caller, proved he has no qualms with playing talented receivers early in their careers when he made true freshman Ryan Wingo an important piece of the offense in 2024. Wingo, the No. 8 overall receiver coming out of high school, caught 29 passes for 472 yards and two touchdowns last season. It’s not unreasonable to think Lockett could be similarly involved this fall.

Laken: I’m going with Clemson running back Gideon Davidson. He was a top-five back in the 2025 recruiting class and enrolled early to participate in spring practices. The Tigers need someone to fill Phil Mafah’s shoes – the RB rushed for 1,115 yards with eight touchdowns last season and was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. Davidson was Virginia’s 2024 Gatorade Player of the Year and rushed for 2,054 yards and 34 touchdowns as a senior.

Clemson is a hot pick to make a CFP run and there’s plenty of opportunity for a young guy like Davidson to take on an important role in the backfield, especially since there won’t be a ton of pressure on him with veteran quarterback Cade Klubnik operating one of the nation’s best passing games.

Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The Number One College Football Show." Follow him at @RJ_Young.

Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.

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