Ryan Day makes important hire to replace Brian Hartline the day after Ohio State fell to Miami in the Cotton Bowl

Ohio State is busy one day after ending its season against Miami.

Brandon Little — Ohio State Buckeyes & Cleveland Browns News Writer
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The Ohio State Buckeyes fell disappointingly to end their season against the Miami Hurricanes on Wednesday evening. Ohio State was held scoreless in the first half and lost 24-14. 

Ohio State losing two games in a row after falling to Indiana and Miami means that wide receivers coach Brian Hartline is going out with back-to-back losses. Hartline decided to take the job at South Florida as the head coach, and his tenure in Columbus ended after being with the team since 2017. 

Buckeyes waste no time hiring their Brian Hartline replacement 

According to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz, the Buckeyes are expected to hire Cortez Hankton as their next wide receivers coach. Hartline has held the wide receivers coaching position since 2018 with the Buckeyes, and now Hankton will have big shoes to fill.

Hankton comes to Columbus after spending the last four seasons with the LSU Tigers. He held various roles, including wide receivers coach, pass game coordinator, and co-offensive coordinator with the Tigers.

Hankton is a 44-year-old former undrafted NFL free agent who started his coaching career in 2012 at Dartmouth. After three seasons there, he spent three years as the wideouts coach at Vanderbilt. Hankton was the wide receivers coach at Georgia from 2018 to 2021 before he went to LSU. While at LSU, Hankton coached the likes of Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas, who are now outstanding NFL players. 

There are big shoes to fill with Hartline leaving town, and the Buckeyes bringing in Hankton solves part of that problem. Ohio State still needs to add an offensive coordinator, and that will be the hire to watch. The Buckeyes have made a key position hire with a proven coach after the loss to Miami. 

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