Longtime Ohio State assistant Brian Hartline has landed his first head coach job.
Hartline has reached an agreement to become the new head coach at South Florida, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Wednesday.
Hartline has coached at Ohio State since 2017. He has been the team’s wide receivers coach for several years and an offensive coordinator or co-offensive coordinator for the past three seasons. Hartline was the Buckeyes’ only OC this season after Chip Kelly left to coach with the Las Vegas Raiders, who recently fired him.
A former NFL wide receiver, Hartline has been lauded for his presence as a recruiter and for his excellent work developing receivers. Some of the first-round picks he has helped develop at receiver include Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Chris Olave and Marvin Harrison Jr.
The 39-year-old Hartline has been Ohio State’s primary play-caller this season. The Buckeyes have one of the best offenses in the country again and have averaged 37 points per game, which ranks 13th in the nation.
Hartline will replace Alex Golesh, who went 23-15 in his three seasons at South Florida. Golesh was recently named the new head coach at Auburn.
