Ohio State's Brian Hartline Has Dreams of Coaching in NFL

In the recruiting classes from 2020-24, Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline has landed seven five-star and 10 four-star wide receiver recruits.

Author:
Casey Smith
Apr 7, 2023 5:34 PM EDT

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Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State Buckeyes offensive coordinator Brian Hartline was on an episode of Barstool Sports' "Bussin' With The Boys" and discussed a range of topics from whether he thinks the rivalry with Michigan is still alive to his top-five receivers he's coached in Columbus.

Among the topics that he discussed with NFL free agents linebacker Will Compton and tackle Taylor Lewan was the prospect of Hartline's coaching trajectory, admitting he has aspirations of coaching in the NFL. Hartline said in his "soul" he's "an NFL guy" because it's like "the All-Star League of college football" with small degrees of separation in talent.

"I love my alma mater at Ohio State," Hartline said. "My heart's in the NFL. I think one day I'd want to coach there, and that's the reality of it. When? I don't know. My in-laws are here and my wife's from Columbus; there's a big foundation that's been built here. I love coaching the receivers. When I started, I was like, 'I'll be the receivers coach for the next 15 to 20 years, leave me alone, I'm good,' but then that grows."

Since he returned to Ohio State as a quality control coach in 2017, Hartline has climbed the coaching totem pole, continually adding job titles to his résumé.

In 2018, he served as the interim receivers coach before earning the full-time role from 2019-21.

Before the 2022 season, Hartline was named the passing game coordinator before being promoted to the Buckeyes' offensive coordinator Jan. 13 after Kevin Wilson took Tulsa's head coaching position.

The North Canton, Ohio native raved about how much he loved building the receivers room at Ohio State to one of the best in the country. He said he would "love" to potentially do that as a head coach someday.

"That was an awesome opportunity, choosing and developing [the receivers room]," Hartline said. "I'd love to do that on a team. I'd love to be a head coach and try to do that on a team, not just in one position. I'm kind of doing that now but just offensively, but I like dealing with people and building a team, whether that's a staff or with individual players. Where does that end up? I couldn't tell you."

Hartline said he would want "all the marbles on the table" to take a position elsewhere in the NFL or college.

"I want to be able to win a national championship," Hartline said. "It would have to be a top program that paints that vision that it can get done there. It's that or the NFL. For me, all the marbles have to be on the table. It has to be the pinnacle, or I may not have as much interest. If the pinnacle is not an option — a Super Bowl or a national championship — that's hard for me."