The Ohio State football program is continuing to prepare for the College Football Playoff. They are awaiting an opponent, as they will play the winner of the Texas A&M vs. Miami game. Unlike last season, the Ohio State Buckeyes have a bye week before the CFP starts.
As the Buckeyes are continuing their preparation, Brian Hartline is also trying to fill out his staff at South Florida. Now that he is the head coach of another program, he has to split duties between the two programs. Hartline actually just made his first significant hire as a head coach.
Hartline has decided who his offensive coordinator is going to be at USF. Fans of the Buckeyes are very familiar with Hartline's choice. In fact, it's a coordinator that most Ohio State football fans hate because of what happened back during the 2015 season.
Brian Hartline hires former Ohio State offensive coordinator Tim Beck as OC at USF
According to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, Hartline has decided to bring in Tim Beck as his offensive coordinator. Beck was the offensive coordinator for the Buckeyes from 2015-2016. He was most recently the head coach at Coastal Carolina before he was fired.
Beck is most remembered by Ohio State fans for his decision not to feed Ezekiel Elliott in the second half of a game against Michigan State in 2015. The Buckeyes ultimately lost that game, which forced them to miss out on both the Big Ten Championship and the College Football Playoff.
This is an odd choice for Hartline to make, considering Beck's recent track record. The good thing for Hartline is that Beck has head coaching experience, even if it didn't really end well for him. He should be able to help Hartline figure out the ropes early on in his head coaching career.
Hartline still has work to do for the Buckeyes. He needs to figure out how to call plays better than he did in the Big Ten Championship Game against Indiana.