CHICAGO – Ohio State hasn’t yet announced who will replace Zach Smith as its wide receivers coach for the upcoming season.
At this point, however, it will be a surprise if it’s anyone but Brian Hartline.
Hartline, a former Ohio State wide receiver (2005-08), joined the Buckeyes last year as a quality control coach and has been viewed as a potential successor to Smith ever since. And now that Smith has been fired less than six weeks before the start of the season, leaving the Buckeyes in a bind to make a quick hire and perhaps forcing them to hire from within, Hartline has emerged as the obvious candidate for the job, at least on an interim basis.
Although Lettermen Row’s Austin Ward reported Monday that Ohio State is planning to make Hartline the interim wide receivers coach, Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer said Tuesday that report was premature, as he hadn’t even had the chance to meet with his staff yet since firing Smith on Monday.
Meyer did say, however, that he believes in Hartline’s ability to be successful as a coach going forward.
"He’s got potential to be an excellent coach," Meyer said. "Brian Hartline is a wonderful guy and works his tail off. Brian Hartline is a very important part of our staff."
Ohio State wide receiver Parris Campbell, who also met with reporters on Tuesday during Big Ten Media Days in Chicago, said he had not yet received word on who his new wide receivers coach would be. Campbell said, though, that he has already benefited from having the opportunity to work with Hartline since he joined the Buckeyes’ staff.
"He’s been with us for two years now, and he’s developed a relationship with all the guys in the room. Guys in the room, we love him," Campbell said. "He’s someone who’s already familiar with the way we go about things. With our men, with our culture, he’s been great. He’s adapted to us. He’s been there for two years. And we’ve grown a relationship, everyone has with him."
In between his career playing football for Ohio State and returning to the Buckeyes as a coach, Hartline spent seven seasons playing in the NFL – six with the Miami Dolphins, one with the Cleveland Browns – which gives him valuable experience that he can now share with Ohio State’s current wide receivers.
Campbell, who aspires to play in the NFL next year following his final season as a Buckeye, says he has appreciated having the opportunity to learn from someone who has been a wide receiver at that level.
"He’s played at the next level, dominated at the next level," Campbell said of Hartline, who had a pair of 1,000-yard receiving seasons for the Dolphins in 2012 and 2013. "He just brings a different mindset. He shares the things that he did in the NFL, and shares what the best of the best do in the league. And obviously getting that knowledge at the collegiate level is definitely going to benefit you."
Brian Hartline played his final NFL season with the Cleveland Browns in 2015 after six seasons with the Miami Dolphins.
While Meyer acknowledged that Hartline’s NFL playing experience gives him instant credibility with his players, he admitted that he also has concerns about hiring former NFL players, because they don’t always want to do the grunt work expected from coaches working their way up in the profession.
"You worry about NFL guys – I hate to lump them like that, because you’re labeling people – but NFL guys, 'Hey, go make coffee. Hey, draw these scout team cards. Hey, make sure this guy’s lined up. Make sure this guy’s going to class.' And they roll their eyes at you," Meyer said.
Hartline, however, has defied those stereotypes with the work ethic he has demonstrated so far as a member of Meyer’s staff.
"I’ve studied Brian Hartline. Mike, his brother, was on my staff too (as a graduate assistant quarterbacks coach in 2015 and 2016). I just really have a lot of respect for that family, and (Brian) was a guy that the reason he survived (seven years in the NFL) is he outworked everybody," Meyer said. "It wasn’t because he was a 4.2 40 guy or some specimen athletically. So a lot of respect for him, and so do our players."
Should Hartline ultimately get the job, he would be the third assistant coach under Meyer who played both at Ohio State and in the NFL, following former defensive line coach Mike Vrabel and former defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Luke Fickell. None of Meyer’s other full-time assistants with the Buckeyes have either played at Ohio State or played in the NFL.
“He’s got potential to be an excellent coach.”– Urban Meyer on Brian Hartline
The biggest question with Hartline’s potential promotion to a full-time role on the Buckeyes’ coaching staff isn’t whether he knows the wide receiver position, but how effectively he can recruit. Hartline has never been a full-time assistant coach before, and Smith – who was also Ohio State’s recruiting coordinator – was regarded as one of the top recruiters in the nation. While Meyer didn’t specifically assess Hartline’s recruiting ability, he said that recruiting ability is an important factor in his decision on who should take Smith’s place on the staff.
"That’s job number one, is not to coach the receivers but would be to bring in quality student-athletes," Meyer said. "That’s the number one job of a position coach in college, at Ohio State."
Another possible candidate for the job, should the Buckeyes consider other internal options, would be Corey Dennis, who is also currently a quality control coach. A former Georgia Tech wide receiver who is now Meyer’s son-in-law, Dennis works primarily with Ohio State’s quarterbacks in his current role but has worked with the Buckeyes’ wide receivers in the past.
Campbell said he believes Dennis, like Hartline, would also be a good choice to take over as wide receivers coach.
"He’s a great guy," Campbell said of Dennis. "We’ve seen Corey grow, just with his knowledge of the game, his knowledge of the wideout position, his knowledge of the quarterback position. And having him around is a huge help as well."
But regardless of whether Meyer ultimately decides to promote Hartline, Dennis or go in another direction altogether, Campbell said he and his fellow wide receivers are confident Meyer will make the decision that is best for the team.
"I put all the trust in Coach Meyer and our coaching staff to make the right decision for our players, which they always do," Campbell said. "I don’t know what’s going to happen moving forward with our coaching situation, but ultimately that’s Coach Meyer’s decision, and I can tell you, I can stand for every player in the wideout room that we have faith in whatever that decision’s going to be."
