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Brian Hartline, Ohio State WRs coach, shares motivation for getting into coaching

Michael Daly

By Michael Daly

Published:

Brian Hartline opened up about his start in coaching and how he ended up being Ohio State’s wide receivers coach.

Hartline, a former Ohio State wide receiver, played in the NFL for 7 seasons. He played for the Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns. After his playing career was over, Hartline joined Urban Meyer’s coaching staff at Ohio State as a quality control coach for the wide receivers in 2017.

In 2018, Hartline was elevated into the interim wide receivers coach role. When Ryan Day took over as the program’s head coach in 2019, Hartline became the wide receivers coach.

In an interview with ESPN college football writer Adam Rittenberg, Hartline spoke about why he decided to start coaching. His experience with bad coaches played a role in his decision:

“That was a large motivator for me to get into coaching,” Hartline said. “I just couldn’t believe the nepotism of hiring this person or that person because it’s your boy. I understand it now from a coaching perspective of surrounding yourself with people you trust. But a lot of that was disheartening when it came to someone trying to coach me. It used to drive me crazy. My body’s on the line, I’m working my ass off, and you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Hartline did not agree with the nepotism that took place in coaching and wanted to prove that he could be a good coach. He has worked with great wide receivers during his time at Ohio State and he wanted the receivers to be their own coach:

“So the young men here, ‘I want to coach you to be a great athlete, but I want to make sure you take everything with you, because who knows who your next coach is.'”

Hartline has been a tremendous assistant coach for Ohio State. He has a bright future ahead of him as Ohio State’s passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach.

Ohio State’s great receiving corps will be on full display in Ohio State’s game on Saturday against Wisconsin.

Michael Daly