Will Brian Hartline call plays at Ohio State? Ryan Day reveals the answer

It appears Brian Hartline will be calling plays as Ohio State offensive coordinator after head coach Ryan Day suggested it.

Brian Hartline is set to call plays as offensive coordinator at Ohio State, head coach Ryan Day suggested. | Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

The architect of Ohio State’s wide receiver room got a big promotion this offseason as Brian Hartline was promoted to the role of offensive coordinator starting this year, and it appears he’ll have full charge over the unit in that role.

Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day appeared to suggest that Hartline will be directly calling plays on offense starting this fall.

“You talk about sacrifice,” Day said to WBNS Television in Columbus.

“Here’s a guy who, he was named coordinator, and I ended up calling plays that year. But he grew that year. And then we decided to bring in Chip, and he had to take a step back. But he learned from Chip, and I thought down the stretch, he did some of his best work as a coach.”

Hartline’s promotion to offensive coordinator hasn’t been made official as of Wednesday night, but Day did confirm plans to install him as Chip Kelly’s successor at the position.

Hartline served as co-offensive coordinator and receivers coach from 2023-24, but wasn’t involved in calling the plays.

That appears to have changed this time around.

“Some guys would say, wait a minute, I’m going somewhere else. He didn’t name me the coordinator,” Day added in remarks about Hartline’s sacrifice to the program.

“Now, he’s going to be coordinator. Now he’s going to call plays. That loyalty and that patience is going to pay off, and I think he’s going to be the best coordinator in the country.”

Hartline has certainly made a name for himself as wide receivers coach at Ohio State, taking charge of the position he himself played for the Buckeyes in the 2000s.

In that time, Hartline has helped bring in players like Garrett Wilson, Marvin Harrison, Jr., Jameson Williams, Chris Olave, Jeremiah Smith, school record-holder Emeka Egbuka, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, among others.

And in the 2025 recruiting cycle, he was instrumental in earning the pledge of five-star wide receiver Quincy Porter to the rotation, as well.

Now, Hartline is getting the whole offense to work on.

More ... Ohio State to hire Matt Patricia as DC: report

And ... Details on Ryan Day’s new deal with Ohio State

(WBNS)

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