Brian Hartline could look toward a former Ohio State quarterback to be the next starter at South Florida out of the transfer portal
South Florida is going to need a starting QB and a former Ohio State player makes sense.
The big news a few weeks ago in Columbus was around Brian Hartline leaving the Ohio State Buckeyes for his first head coaching job at South Florida.
Since then, the dust has settled and Hartline has put much of his staff together at USF. The Ohio State assistant will finish up his time with the Buckeyes coaching wide receivers through the College Football Playoff, then it’ll be on to lead his own program. One big question mark at South Florida is who exactly Hartline’s first quarterback will be.
Brian Hartline could look toward a former Ohio State QB to be the starter at South Florida
With Byrum Brown heading to the transfer portal from USF, the Bulls will have a new starting quarterback in 2026. The quarterback position is the most important in the sport and Hartline getting his first guy under center right could be key to starting his head coaching tenure. Earlier on Monday, news broke that former Ohio State QB Air Noland would be leaving South Carolina and entering the transfer portal on Jan. 2.
With Hartline having coached within the same offense that Noland was once a part of, he could look toward the left-handed athlete to be his next quarterback. Noland didn’t appear in any games as a freshman with the Buckeyes in 2024 before transferring to South Carolina. With LaNorris Sellers back to the Gamecocks for the 2026 season, Noland landing somewhere with a chance to start is the way to go entering his third season of college football.
Noland has just three passing attempts and one rush to his credit in college. However, there’s a difference between playing in the Big Ten or SEC and playing in the American Athletic Conference. The jump down in competition could be the move for Noland to get on the field and produce. There’s no doubt that the left has talent, he was a top-5 quarterback in the class of 2024 at Georgia. Now, it’s all about getting on the field to showcase it. That spot may just be with one of his former coaches.