Ohio State Buckeyes offensive coordinator Brian Hartline has been linked to several Power Four head coaching jobs that have fallen vacant in the past few weeks. Since replacing the NFL-bound Chip Kelly as O.C., Hartline has not missed a beat in his role as the Buckeyes boast one of the best offenses in the country, headlined by quarterback Julian Sayin.
After the Penn State Nittany Lions fired coach James Franklin two weeks ago, Hartline was one of the names linked to the vacant head coaching job in Happy Valley.
Brian Hartline Backed by Ryan Day
During his weekly news conference before the Buckeyes clash against the Penn State Nittany Lions, Ohio State coach Ryan Day backed Brian Hartline to make the next step as a coach.
Day said the #Buckeyes want to retain as many coaches as they can to maintain continuity, but also want assistants to have opportunities.
— Bucknuts (@Bucknuts247) October 28, 2025
Day lost both his offensive and defensive coordinators when Chip Kelly and Jim Knowles both departed the program after the Buckeyes swashbuckled their way to a national championship in January.
Under Hartline, the Buckeyes’ offense is ranked No. 1 in the country in terms of offensive success rate and ninth in points scored per drive.
Brian Hartline Included in Penn State’s Hot Board
In 247Sports’ analyst Tyler Donohue’s latest coaching hot board, Brian Hartline was included among a host of experienced college football coaches. Hartline’s name was mentioned alongside Missouri Tigers’ Eli Drinkwitz, Texas A&M Aggies’ Mike Elko and Nebraska Cornhuskers’ Matt Rhule as the top five candidates to succeed Jamesa Franklin in Happy Valley.
“We’ve been hesitant to include Hartline on this Hot Board until more intel came along. While there is little ‘concrete’ info in this coaching search, his name has come up enough in discussions with national-level industry sources and with local people who have a solid sense for this process to warrant his addition as another name to monitor moving forward,” Donohue wrote.
Hartline started his career as a graduate assistant at Ohio State in 2017 before becoming the wide receivers coach the following year. He became the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator in 2023 before being relegated to co-offensive coordinator when Chip Kelly was appointed and he reprised his role when the national championship-winning O.C. left for the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Buckeyes’ offense has barely broken a sweat under Brian Hartline’s leadership, but as the season reaches its climax ahead of clashes against the Nittany Lions and the Michigan Wolverines, the Ohio State offensive coordinator will be under more scrutiny than ever before.
