Ryan Day: OC Brian Hartline to Call Plays During Ohio State Spring Game

The first-year offensive coordinator will get his first game-style reps at play calling during the annual scrimmage on Saturday.

Recently promoted offensive coordinator Brian Hartline will get his first reps calling plays in a game format at the Ohio State Buckeyes' annual Spring Game on Saturday.

Ryan Day, head coach of the Buckeyes, has been in charge of offensive play-calling in seasons past. During the offseason, and following Ohio State's 42-41 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs at the 2023 Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta, Day announced he would be stepping away from that aspect of his coaching responsibilities.

Day said he would still wear a headset on the sideline and be available to assist Hartline should he be needed. Aside from that, the keys to the Buckeyes' offense are in the hands of the former Miami Dolphins wide receiver.

"We'll go through the game plan and we'll be able to show what we want to do in the game, and then we'll let Brian call and I'll be right there," Day said. "We'll probably huddle some so I'll be able to kind of relay some of that information real quick."

Hartline has served a variety of roles since he returned to his alma mater as a member of the coaching staff, under then-head coach Urban Meyer.

Meyer hired Hartline in 2017 as a quality control coach overseeing Ohio State's wide receivers. In 2019, Hartline was promoted to interim wide receivers coach, a position which he took on permanently the following season and holds to this day, along with fulfilling the new duties of offensive coordinator.

Before he entered the realm of coaching, Hartline played at Ohio State from 2005 to 2008, taking part in four Big Ten Championship games as a wide receiver over that time. 

Over his time with the Buckeyes as a player, Hartline hauled in 90 catches for 1,429 yards and 12 touchdowns.

With the result of this weekend's scrimmage not meaning anything in terms of Ohio State's official record, part of the attention of media and fans will be locked on Hartline and his success as a play-caller, or lack thereof. 

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