Brian Hartline Addresses Coaching Job Rumors: ‘My heart is at Ohio State’

The problem with having good assistant coaches is that other schools are going to want them. On Thursday, OSU receivers coach and passing game coordinator Brian Hartline addressed rumors that had attached him to the open head coaching job at the University of Cincinnati.

“I am aware of the speculation surrounding my name connected to other vacant coaching positions and appreciate all of the support, but right now my heart is at Ohio State and I do not have any plans to go anywhere else,” Hartline tweeted.

Hartline has been the receivers coach at Ohio State since the 2018 season. In that time he has emerged as arguably the top developer of receiver talent in the nation. He has also shown to be one of the nation’s very best recruiters, though that is a label that he has bristled at in the past.

“I think that it’s more important to be able to identify talent than it is to communicate the information of why we’re different than others,” Hartline said this spring. “I think ‘recruiting’ has a bad connotation to it. I don’t do anything different than just explain why Ohio State’s a great university, and how Ohio State can help maximize and reach their goals. Clearly, a message is probably pretty important. But I think we pride ourselves on not necessarily finding the best guys, but finding the right guys.”

This won’t be the last time Hartline’s name comes up in a job search. A year ago, Hartline told reporters that the idea of leaving Ohio State wasn’t at the forefront of his mind.

“Ohio State’s my home and I have a strong passion here,” he said back then. “I love seeing all the coach conversations and how coaches answer different questions because of all the speculation. I find it very amusing. So now I have to not screw this up, so I would say that I love it here and it’s a passion here and all I care about is this room. And that’s my main focus and my forever focus. And outside of that, I think I would be lying if I’m thinking outside of that.

“But I’m also not a person to sit here and tell you, ‘No, I’m never leaving Ohio State.’ I’m not saying I ever will. You say, ‘go up the ladder,’ like go where? This is the pinnacle of the ladder. And the ego at this point, it’s pretty minimal I think at times — maybe other people don’t think so. But I don’t need the satisfaction of calling plays or whatever. I don’t know what that ladder is. But to me, I’m at the pinnacle of the ladder.”

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