Since his playing career ended after six seasons with the Dolphins and one with the Browns, following a season away from the game, Brian Hartline has been a part of the staff at his alma mater at Ohio State, where he's worked tirelessly to make a name for himself as one of the top recruiters in college football and arguably the best developer of young talent at the wide receiver spot the sport has ever seen.
After a season as an offensive quality control assistant, Hartline was elevated to receivers coach in 2018 and has churned out elite first-round picks like Garret Wilson, Emeka Egbuka, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Chris Olave, Jameson Williams and Marvin Harrison Jr. He spent the 2023 season as the Buckeyes offensive coordinator before Ryan Day brought Chip Kelly into the fold as the offensive play caller during the 2024 season that culminated in the national title, and when Kelly left for the Raiders offensive coordinator opportunity last off season, he was slid back into the role as the Buckeyes play caller.
This season, with a young sophomore quarterback Julian Sayin at the helm of the offense in Columbus, Hartline orchestrated an impressive offensive attack and that, combined with his entire body of work in Columbus, led to the opportunity to become the head coach at South Florida, where he takes over for Alex Golesh after three seasons.
The timing of the move was anything but ideal.
Hartline accepted the Bulls head coaching job in early December, and committed to stay with the Buckeyes through their College Football Playoff run and quest to repeat as national champions.
However, the reality quickly set in that Hartline had one foot down in Columbus, while trying to manage everything that comes with being a first-time college head coach thousands of miles away in Tampa, and that's hard for even the most veteran of coaches.
The Buckeyes faced Indiana in the Big Ten title game a few days later on December 6th, and the Buckeyes offense couldn't find their footing as the Hoosiers found a way to win 13-10.
That disappointing performance, and Hartline juggling two demanding positions, led to plenty of questions about how Hartline's offense would fare on the big stage of the College Football Playoff as they get set to square of against Miami on December 31st.
When asked about that today, Ryan Day provided some clarity on how they're moving forward as a program and it will involve Day taking on the play calling duties.
"It's such a strange calendar, and the timing is brutal, but he has handled it great, as you could imagine."
"Right now, as we move forward, he is coaching the receivers. It's a lot on his plate, and it's a lot to manage, so we're just taking it day-to-day right now in terms of how we move forward. Going into the game, it will be a group effort, everyone will be very involved in the play calling, but ultimately it will be my decision on what calls go into the game. I wanted to take that off Brian's plate as we head into the playoffs because he's just got so much going on."
Pressed on if he had any reluctance to make that change, Day insisted he had no reservations at all, and credited the offensive staff for handling the game planning and organization to make the unique arrangement work.
Hear more from Day on the decision in the clip.