Ohio State Promotes Wide Receivers Coach Brian Hartline To Offensive Coordinator

Hartline replaces Kevin Wilson, who was named the new head coach at Tulsa last month.

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day announced on Friday afternoon that wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator Brian Hartline has been promoted to offensive coordinator, replacing Kevin Wilson, who was named the head coach at Tulsa last month.

🏈 Ryan Day announces @OhioStateFB offensive coaching staff changes; Hartline named offensive coordinator #GoBucks

— Ohio State Buckeyes 🌰 (@OhioStAthletics) January 13, 2023

“Brian has been successful in every football capacity for which he has been engaged,” Day said in a press release. “He has progressed incredibly well from college to NFL receiver, and then from quality control coach to wide receivers coach to passing game coordinator. He figures things out quickly and he is more than ready to now transition to offensive coordinator.

“Brian has also developed his receivers at an unprecedented level and he has recruited as well or better than anyone in the country. Now he’ll be recruiting for our entire offense and I think that is something that will be really positive for our program.”

The 36-year-old Hartline, who played for the Buckeyes from 2005-08, just wrapped up his fifth season at his alma mater after initially joining the program in 2017 as a quality control coach. He was promoted to interim wide receivers coach in 2018, then had that tagged removed the following season.

Hartline notably helped the program end a 15-year drought without a first-round wide receiver when Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave were drafted in the spring and has produced four 1,000-yard wideouts in the last two seasons, including Biletnikoff Award finalist Marvin Harrison Jr. in 2022.

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Ohio State has also signed or landed a commitment from 15 top-100 receivers since Hartline took over the unit. Six were considered five-star prospects, including Wilson in 2019, Julian Fleming and Jaxon Smith-Njigba in 2020, Emeka Egbuka, in 2021, Brandon Inniss in 2023 and Jeremiah Smith in 2024.

“I am ready and I am really looking forward to this opportunity,” Hartline said. “Ohio State has established a premier threshold with regard to offensive output and that is something that we’ll strive to meet every day. I want to thank Coach Day for his belief in me and for the positions he has put me in these last several years that have allowed me to succeed and grow.”

In addition to Hartline’s promotion, Ohio State announced that offensive line coach Justin Frye has added run-game coordinator to his duties while senior advisor to the head coach Keenan Bailey has replaced Wilson as the Buckeyes' new tight ends coach, confirming a report from last month.

It's unclear if Hartline will take over play-calling duties from Day, who told ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit during their production meeting ahead of the Peach Bowl loss to Georgia he was considering relinquishing those responsibilities to “become more of a manager as a head coach.”

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