Ryan Day could soon be dealing with Penn State trying to take an Ohio State coach for the second year in a row
It wouldn’t be a surprise at all with this coaching carousel.
The best coaching job Ryan Day has done so far as head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes might be the run he led the team on after last year’s regular season loss to Michigan. Ohio State went on to beat four top-10 teams and capture its first College Football Playoff title in a decade. One of the biggest responsibilities a head coach has is hiring and retaining a strong staff.
Day lost both his offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly, and defensive coordinator, Jim Knowles, after winning it all last season. His decision to elevate Brian Hartline to offensive play caller and to bring in longtime NFL coach Matt Patricia to lead the defense may end up ranking among the best coaching decisions Day has ever made in Columbus. With the college football coaching carousel already heating up, there’s no telling whether Day will have to go through the process again next offseason.
Brian Hartline’s name may be picking up steam for the Penn State job
Penn State plans to take its time and make a home-run hire after moving on from James Franklin. This next decision is critical, as the program has had just three head coaches since 1966. While Ohio State’s Brian Hartline has yet to hold a head coaching position, it feels inevitable that his time will come soon — and his name was recently added to the “Hot Board” for Penn State’s coaching search.
“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.” — Tyler Donohue, Lions247
Hartline is in his first season calling plays and his third season overall holding at least a co-offensive coordinator title. The former Buckeye standout spent just one season (2017) as a quality control assistant before becoming Ohio State’s wide receivers coach in 2018. Since then, no program has produced elite receivers quite like the Buckeyes. Emeka Egbuka, Marvin Harrison Jr., Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Chris Olave, and Garrett Wilson all became first-round NFL Draft picks after developing under Hartline in Columbus.
That doesn’t even include Carnell Tate, who’s projected to be a first-round pick next April, or Jeremiah Smith, who could be the best of the group by 2027. Hartline, just 38 years old, connects with players in a way that makes his teaching stick. If Penn State wants a young, energetic, offensive-minded coach who knows what it takes to win at the highest level, Hartline would make a lot of sense.
The Buckeyes’ top assistant previously interviewed for the West Virginia head coaching job but hasn’t seriously considered leaving Columbus — yet. Still, if Penn State decides to take a chance on Hartline as a first-time head coach, that opportunity could be tough to turn down. The Nittany Lions have the foundation to compete at the top of the Big Ten, and that’s been evident over the past two decades.
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