The most decorated recruiter and developer of Ohio State's position coaches remains committed to the Buckeyes, even if he is willing to hear other programs out.
At Ohio State's Rose Bowl media day on Monday, wide receivers coach Brian Hartline told Eleven Warriors that he still loves being a Buckeye but will listen to schools interested in him after he was interviewed for but ultimately did not land West Virginia's head coaching job.
"Being a head coach is not really on my mind," Hartline said. "Year-to-year you always have people who reach out and want to speak to you about opportunities. I'm never in a situation where I'm never going to talk to someone or anything about an opportunity, but my focus is – I love being at Ohio State. It's well-documented, and I see it as such."
On Dec. 11, 247Sports' Chris Anderson reported that Hartline was interviewed for the Mountaineers' head coaching vacancy following the firing of former West Virginia head coach Neal Brown. The following morning, however, WVU announced the hiring of Rich Rodriguez.
Hartline declined to comment on the process and what played out with West Virginia.
"Just focused on the Rose Bowl," Hartline said.
There's no doubt Ohio State would love to keep Hartline, a former Buckeye receiver himself, around as long as possible. In just seven seasons he's landed seven five-star receiver prospects in the 247Sports composite rankings, with 18 wideout commits ranked in the top 100 of their respective classes, including 2026 five-star prospect Chris Henry Jr. and 2027 five-star prospect Jamier Brown, who are still some time away from signing with OSU.
Hartline's produced four first-round NFL draft picks at wide receiver in the past three years and had a huge hand in developing a fifth in former Ohio State-turned-Alabama wideout Jameson Williams. Emeka Egbuka could give Hartline another first-rounder on his immaculate résumé in the 2025 NFL draft, and Jeremiah Smith almost certainly will join that list when he’s eligible to go pro in 2027.
