Brian Hartline drops bold statement on how South Florida will operate like the Ohio State Buckeyes
Former Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline isn’t shying away from how he’s trying to run the football program at South Florida.
The early signs of the Ohio State Buckeyes replacing Brian Hartline as the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach in Columbus have been promising.
New wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton has been able to keep 2027 five-star Jamier Brown locked in. The Buckeyes have landed five-star wideouts in both the 2028 and 2029 classes with Jett Harrison and Austin Miller.
Hartline himself on the other hand, is working on leveling up a South Florida program that has seen some G5 success lately. The former Buckeye isn’t shying away from what he’s trying to do there.
Brian Hartline is very open about his plans at South Florida
“The best form of flattery is to replicate,” Hartline said via On3. “I’m not shy about it — I played at Ohio State for four years and coached there for the last decade. We’re going to do a lot of similar things with our own touch. We’re not going to fake it or pretend to be somebody we’re not, but the expectations and the operation will resemble Ohio State.”
Hartline played at Ohio State from 2005 to 2008 and developed into a fourth-round NFL draft pick. After seven seasons in the NFL, Hartline took a couple of years off before joining the coaching staff at Ohio State in 2017. From 2018-2025, Hartline served as the wide receivers coach in Columbus where the Buckeyes have had first-round picks like Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Emeka Egbuka, and Marvin Harrison Jr.
Though South Florida isn’t going to have the NIL backing or the expectations that the Buckeyes do, Hartline hopes to carry some of the same ways the program is run over. Building a good culture is the key to any successful football program, and it’ll be a necessity for Hartline at South Florida.
Hartline isn’t taking over a slouch of a program, either, as Alex Golesh led the Bulls to nine wins last season. South Florida won a combined 23 games in the last three seasons after having just four wins total the previous three years. Hartline has his work cut out for him, but carrying some Ohio State ways with him will certainly help.