Brian Hartline, who has recruited and mentored some of the best wide receivers in the nation during his four years as the program’s wide receivers coach, will have increased responsibility with the offensive game plan beginning in 2022 with his promotion to passing game coordinator by head coach Ryan Day.
The promotion came as no surprise and his resume is indicative of this. 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.
In January 2022, Hartline was named the FootballScoop wide receivers coach of the year, an honor voted on by former recipients of the award. 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.
Hartline’s wide receiver’s unit was spectacular in 2021 with three All-Americans. Senior Chris Olave and junior Garrett Wilson were each first-team All-Americans, the fourth and fifth wide receivers in school history to be so named, and sophomore Jackson Smith-Njigba was a second-team All-American.
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 two young children, a son, Brayden, and a daughter, Brooklyn.