Major Brian Hartline replacement candidate from the SEC just became available that Ryan Day may want to act on for the Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State needs to make a hire soon for a new wide receivers coach and the perfect fit may have just became available.
The loss to the Indiana Hoosiers in the Big Ten Championship wasn’t the only loss that the Ohio State Buckeyes took on the chin last week. Last Wednesday, news broke that offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline would be leaving Columbus to be the head coach at USF.
In the immediate, that’s tough news for Ohio State’s wide receiver development. Hartline will stay with the team through the College Football Playoff run, then he’ll begin his tenure as the head coach in South Florida. Hartline has been developing wide receivers at an impressive clip since 2017, and he will be hard for Ryan Day to replace.
Former Florida WR coach Billy Gonzales could be the answer
News broke on Monday that new Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall would not be retaining Billy Gonzales on his staff. Gonzales served as the Gators’ interim coach after Billy Napier was fired this season and has a long history, including working with Day at Florida under Urban Meyer back in the early 2000s.
Ohio State could very well hire a wide receivers coach and offensive coordinator separately, and Gonzales fits the bill as the WR coach.
Why Billy Gonzales for the Buckeyes as wide receivers coach?
If the Buckeyes are searching for an experienced option to replace Hartline, Gonzales makes a ton of sense, and he has plenty of connections to the Buckeyes. Gonzales played for former Ohio State coach Earle Bruce at Colorado State before getting into coaching. Quickly into his coaching career, Gonzales joined Urban Meyer’s staff at Bowling Green, alongside Dan Mullen.
He would follow Meyer to Utah and then to Florida, coaching WRs alongside him from 2003-09. From there, Gonzales blazed his own path, coaching WRs at LSU in 2010 and 2011 before going to Illinois in 2012 as their co-OC. In 2013, he reunited with Dan Mullen as his WRs coach at Mississippi State and then followed Mullen to Florida, where he has remained a mainstay on staff aside from a single season at Florida Atlantic.
Every step of the way, Gonzales has produced NFL-caliber receivers and has been a strong recruiter at the position, and he’s done it for decades. In his career, Gonzales has coached NFL names such as: Paris Warren, Chad Jackson, Percy Harvin, Riley Cooper, Andre Caldwell, Deonte Thompson, Reuben Randle, Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry, Van Jefferson, Kadarius Toney, Tyrie Cleveland, Freddie Swain, Justin Shorter, Ricky Pearsall, Chimere Dike, and coached potential NFLers in Eugene Wilson III, J.Michael Sturdivant, and Dallas Wilson with the Gators this season.
If Sumrall isn’t retaining him, Gonzales brings decades of experience and an NFL track record a mile long. He would be a strong name in keeping their elite wide receiver pipeline open for the foreseeable future.
Ohio State Buckeyes News
Concerning reality is here for the end of Brian Hartline’s tenure in Columbus with the Ohio State Buckeyes
Brian Hartline has at least one more game with Ohio State, but the goal is to go play three more games total.
