Carnell Tate had a breakthrough sophomore season for Ohio State during the march to the national championship. That kind of performance reportedly had other programs interested in Tate’s services, even if he wasn’t in the transfer portal.

According to a Friday report from Pete Nakos with On3 Sports, Tate had received an offer around $1 million to transfer out of Ohio State. Meanwhile, superstar freshman Jeremiah Smith reportedly had an offer worth up to $4.5 million to transfer.

However, those offers appear to be in vain with On3’s Steve Wiltfong and Nakos now reporting that Tate will return to Columbus for his junior season. That’s not a major surprise given the circumstances, but it is certainly noteworthy.

It’s hard to imagine a world where Ohio State would not make every effort to retain Tate coming off a campaign with 733 receiving yards. Losing Emeka Egbuka to the NFL Draft only magnifies the need to retain Tate and Smith as the leaders in the receiving room for 2025.

Keenan Bailey, Ohio State’s TE coach, also shared an image Friday evening featuring WRs coach Brian Hartline alongside the trio of Tate, Smith and Brandon Inniss. Smith and Tate were always penciled in as the 1-2 punch on the outside next season with the potential for Inniss to breakout in the No. 3 spot.

With Bailey’s image out there, it sure looks like that plan is intact moving forward.

This season, Carnell Tate set new career-high marks in every category with 52 catches for 733 yards and 4 touchdowns, finishing 3rd on the Buckeyes behind Smith and Egbuka in those categories. He delivered 102 yards against Nebraska and also recorded 87 yards with a career-high 7 catches in the Cotton Bowl win over Texas.

The duo of Tate and Smith will especially crucial next season as Ohio State breaks in a new quarterback coming off the national title.