Brian Hartline just let the cat out of the bag on why he made the decision to leave Ohio State for South Florida
Brian Hartline got honest about his decision to leave Columbus for South Florida to become a head coach.
The Ohio State Buckeyes just suffered their first loss of the season to the Indiana Hoosiers in the Big Ten Championship. Coincidentally, the loss came just days after Buckeyes offensive coordinator Brian Hartline decided to take his first head coaching gig with the South Florida Bulls.
Hartline is in South Florida being introduced as the new head coach of the Bulls this week before making his way back to Columbus to prepare for the Cotton Bowl. It’s a tough balance that Hartline will have to have in his final days as the play caller with the Buckeyes. Hartline’s decision to leave Columbus was always coming at some point, but the wide receiver guru is leaving sooner than anyone expected.
Brian Hartline just got honest about why he’s leaving the Buckeyes for South Florida
“I am honored and humbled for this world-class opportunity. I’ve always felt like this is a place that caught my eye from afar,” Hartline said on Monday. “Being down in South Florida for a while, I know I’ve lived in Ohio, I was born and raised there and spent a lot of time there, but I always felt like Florida was my second home. Our family has always felt that way. When assessing opportunities, USF was always toward the top of the list, frankly.”
“Since my playing days in the NFL, I’ve always felt like Ohio was a big part of my life … Florida is second to none,” Hartline went on to say. “And I can’t emphasize enough how important it was for us, if we were ever going to go anywhere, it would be back to the people in Florida.”
Hartline is from the Canton, Ohio area and played four seasons with the Buckeyes. Hartline spent six NFL seasons in Florida with the Miami Dolphins before returning to Ohio to spend one season with the Cleveland Browns in 2015. Since 2017, Hartline has been a member of Ohio State’s coaching staff. Hartline has spent the majority of his life in Ohio playing football, but now he will uproot his family for his first head coaching gig in the southern part of the country.
“I would say I didn’t take the decision lightly, but I was also very excited,” Hartline admitted. “My wife is from Columbus, my in-laws are there, her parents are there … it’s important. I have three kids, eight, six, and three, and so they’re leaving their grandparents. We had to be at the right spot, adamantly, for us to leave, and that was frankly a choice well worth making at that point.”
Ohio State will play either Texas A&M or Miami on New Year’s Eve. That is the only game that Hartline has as a lock to coach in with the Buckeyes ever again. Hartline will be with the Buckeyes as far as they can go in this College Football Playoff, and the inside hope is that it’s three games to repeat as national champions.
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