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Ohio State Football: Brian Hartline proving his worth on recruiting trail

By Frank Teriaca

COLLEGE PARK, MD - NOVEMBER 17: A detail of an Ohio State Buckeyes helmet during the game against the Maryland Terrapins at Capital One Field on November 17, 2018 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images)
COLLEGE PARK, MD - NOVEMBER 17: A detail of an Ohio State Buckeyes helmet during the game against the Maryland Terrapins at Capital One Field on November 17, 2018 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images) /
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Ohio State wide receivers coach Brian Hartline is tearing up the recruiting trail and is now proving to be one of the nation’s top recruiters.

Well, we knew with the bye week that this would be a busy week on the recruiting front for Ohio State. Recent news that four-star wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. has committed to the 2021 class certainly was surprising and welcomed news.

Harrison became the sixth four-star rated or higher wide receiver to commit to the Buckeyes for the 2020 and 2021 classes. All of them are rated as top 100 overall players too, according to Eleven Warriors.

Here is a list of those outstanding recruits.

That is astonishing and it is all because of one man: wide receiver coach Brian Hartline.

Hartline came to Ohio State as a graduate assistant after a fine NFL career and then became the receivers coach in 2018. Since then he has become Ryan Day’s best overall recruiter.

In fact, 247Sports rates Hartline as the best recruiter in the country, having been responsible for nabbing arguably that nation’s best recruit in the 2020 class Julian Flemming.

In addition to all these receivers he is recruiting, Hartline is also responsible for gaining the commitments of 2020 athlete Cameron Martinez and 2021 four-star quarterback Kyle McCord.

All this success has to be a sigh of relief for Buckeye fans who wondered if recruiting would tail off a bit with Urban Meyer gone.

But why is Brian Hartline so successful? Steve Wiltfong, recruiting director for 247Sports, had this to say on Hartline via the Akron Beacon Journal:

"“He’s been really genuine building relationships with these kids,” Wiltfong said. “It’s a part of the job he obviously enjoys, meeting and connecting with these kids and hopefully having an influence. Obviously, he lived the life they want to live, but he does what it takes to get to know these young men and puts that into recruiting that a lot of coaches, quite honestly, don’t. It’s a daily thing with Brian Hartline.”"

Next. Why fans should always root for Wolverines to lose. dark

So the bottom line is this: Hartline played in the NFL, loves The Ohio State University and can connect with kids who want to have success like he did. Sounds like the perfect recipe for success and the perfect coach for Ohio State to have pitching high schoolers on Buckeye football.

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