Brian Hartline reportedly interviewed for the head coaching job at West Virginia, but the Mountaineers hired Rich Rodriguez instead.
247Sports’ Chris Anderson reported Wednesday that West Virginia interviewed Ohio State’s wide receivers coach for its head coaching vacancy, citing multiple sources.
Less than 24 hours later, however, West Virginia announced the hiring of Rich Rodriguez as its new head coach. Rodriguez, a West Virginia alumnus who was previously the Mountaineers’ coach from 2001-07, had been viewed as the leading candidate in the search.
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— West Virginia Football (@WVUfootball) December 12, 2024
The head football coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers, !
https://t.co/Ws7lN9l4C0#HailWV pic.twitter.com/5nJZBlGY4d
Hartline has been Ohio State’s wide receivers coach since 2018, initially taking over the job on an interim basis before being promoted to the role in a full-time capacity in 2019. Since then, Hartline has established himself as college football’s preeminent wide receivers coach, producing four first-round NFL draft picks – Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Marvin Harrison Jr. – while trotting out elite receiving corps on an annual basis, including this year’s group led by 2024 Big Ten Receiver and Freshman of the Year Jeremiah Smith, Emeka Egbuka and Carnell Tate.
Hartline also currently holds the title of co-offensive coordinator for the Buckeyes. He was Ohio State’s lead offensive coordinator in 2023, though he was not the primary play caller, but became co-offensive coordinator this year after Chip Kelly was hired to lead the offense.
Rodriguez has been the head coach at Jacksonville State for the last three years. He left West Virginia in 2007 to become the head coach at Michigan, where he was fired after three seasons. Rodriguez later became the head coach at Arizona from 2012-17, then served as an assistant at Ole Miss, Hawaii and Louisiana-Monroe before returning to the head coaching ranks in 2022.
