Brian Hartline

Brian Hartline was promoted to offensive coordinator by Ohio State coach Ryan Day in January of 2023. The promotion is Hartline’s second in as many years, after he was promoted to passing game coordinator in January of 2022.

“Brian has been successful in every football capacity for which he has been engaged,” Day said. “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.

“He 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.”

Hartline will be taking charge of an Ohio State offense that has been peaking under the direction of Day. The team’s total offense has ranked third, 11th, first and second nationally the past four years with Day as head coach, respectively, and its scoring offense has ranked fourth, seventh, first and ninth.

Hartline, who is 36, will remain Ohio State’s wide receivers coach. The 2023 season will be his sixth in that capacity and he has proven to be the top receivers coach in college football, being named so twice in the last two years. @on3sports named him its 2022 national wide receivers coach of the year just last month and FootballScoop named Hartline its 2021 wide receivers coach of the year.

In 2019 he was honored by the American Football Coaches Association as one of its AFCA 35 Under 35 honorees, a prestigious program that develops “premier, future leaders” in the coaching profession.

In his six previous seasons on staff, including one year as a quality control coach, Hartline has successfully recruited and mentored some of the best wide receivers in the nation.

• Marvin Harrison Jr. (unanimous in 2022), Chris Olave (2021), Garrett Wilson (2021) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (second-team in 2021) have all been named All-Americans.
• Harrison Jr., was the wide receiver of the year in the Big Ten Conference in 2022.
• Harrison Jr., and Emeka Egbuka were each 1,000-yard receivers in 2022, one year after Smith-Njigba and Wilson were 1,000-yard receivers in 2021.
• Smith-Njigba set Ohio State game and single season records for receptions (15 vs. Nebraska and Utah; and 96 for the season) and receiving yards (an all-time bowl record 347 yards vs. Utah; and 1,606 for the season) in 2021.
• Olave set the Ohio State career record with 35 touchdown receptions.
• Remarkably in 2021, Smith-Njigba, Wilson and Olave all finished in the Ohio State single season Top 10s for receptions and yards.

Olave, Wilson and Jameson Williams, who spent two seasons with Ohio State before transferring for one season at Alabama, were all first-round NFL Draft picks in the 2022 draft.

K.J. Hill, who broke the school record for career receptions with 201, and teammates Parris Campbell and Terry McLaurin were also selected in the NFL Draft.

Hartline has been a rising star among college coaches since becoming a full-time staff member in 2018 after one season as an offensive analyst. He was a standout receiver for Ohio State from 2005-08, graduated in 2009 and spent seven seasons in the National Football League, six of them with the Miami Dolphins and one as a Cleveland Brown. He played in 104 NFL games with 73 starts and produced 344 career receptions for 4,766 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Hartline joined the Ohio State staff in early 2017 as a quality control coach after a terrific playing career in the NFL. Among former Buckeye receivers who played in the NFL, Hartline ranks high statistically when comparing them: he is fifth among NFL Buckeyes in yards, per catch average (13.9) and games started; sixth in games played and receptions; and seventh in touchdowns.

Hartline played for the Scarlet and Gray from 2005 through 2008 and was a part of four Big Ten championship teams – meaning he’s been with nine Ohio State teams and has won eight Big Ten titles, including a record four consecutive outright Big Ten championships in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. He also played an integral role in Ohio State reaching consecutive BCS National Championship games in 2006 and 2007. In 2007, he caught a career-best 52 passes for 694 yards and six touchdowns. Hartline’s career numbers include 90 catches, 1,429 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Hartline, from North Canton, Ohio, graduated from Ohio State in spring 2009 with his degree in communications. He and his wife, Kara, have three young children: sons Brayden and Kameron, and a daughter, Brooklyn.

Brian Hartline Quick Facts
Hometown: North Canton, Ohio
High School: GlenOak
Alma Mater: Ohio State, 2009
Degree: Communications
Year in Coaching: Seventh (Seventh at Ohio State)
Wife: Kara
Children: Sons Brayden and Kameron; Daughter, Brooklyn

Brian Hartline Coaching Assignments
2023-pres.: Offensive Coordinator / Wide Receivers – Ohio State
2022: Passing Game Coordinator / Wide Receivers – Ohio State
2019-21: Wide Receivers – Ohio State
2018: Interim Wide Receivers – Ohio State
2017: Quality Control – Wide Receivers Ohio State

Bowl Games
2022 – Peach Bowl (CFB Semifinals), Ohio State
2021 – Rose Bowl (NY6), Ohio State
2020 – CFB National Championship Game
2020 – Sugar Bowl (CFB Semifinals), Ohio State
2019 – Fiesta Bowl (CFB Semifinals), Ohio State
2018 – Rose Bowl (NY6), Ohio State
2017 – Cotton Bowl (NY6), Ohio State
Year reflects season and not actual year game was played.