Brian Hartline may no longer work in Columbus, but he left an indelible impression while at Ohio State. The former Buckeyes wideout became one of the greatest wide receivers coaches in college football history. This helped him become an offensive coordinator for his alma mater last season, all before taking over the reins of the South Florida Bulls in The American. His track record speaks for itself...
After seeing Carnell Tate go No. 4 overall to the Tennessee Titans, Hartline flexed on social media.
2022 Garrett Wilson No. 10
— Brian Hartline (@brianhartline) April 24, 2026
2022 Chris Olave No. 11
2023 Jaxon Smith-Njigba No. 20
2024 Marvin Harrison Jr. No. 4
2025 Emeka Egbuka No. 19
2026 Carnell Tate No. 4
Might have one in 2027 too!
Hartline rattled off the six first-round wide receivers who learned under him at Ohio State, all before alluding to someone else truly special potentially coming out in 2027. Look for Jeremiah Smith to join the likes of Tate, Emeka Egbuka, Marvin Harrison Jr., Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Chris Olave, and Garrett Wilson as first-round Ohio State wide receivers since 2022. This run of players may not happen again.
No matter what happens to Hartline as a head coach down in Tampa, he was a legend with Ohio State.
Brian Hartline has Jeremiah Smith next up after Carnell Tate's big day
Of the half-dozen first-round wide receivers out of Ohio State, Smith-Njigba is by far the most accomplished. He just won a Super Bowl and was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year with the 2025 Seattle Seahawks. While most of these guys have not gone to great NFL teams, there is reason to believe any of them could potentially get on Smith-Njigba's level one day. It might be Smith or Tate.
With Tate going to the Titans, he is now expected to emerge as Cam Ward's new favorite target in Nashville. This will be Robert Saleh's second go-around as an NFL head coach. Maybe his tumultuous run with the New York Jets will do him a world of good in his latest dysfunctional organization? As for Smith, one can expect he too will be a top-five pick as soon as he enters the NFL Draft, likely in 2027.
At this time, Hartline can look back fondly on this chapter of his college coaching career. He helped transform his alma mater from a run-first program, into a behemoth outside the numbers. While he was every bit hit-or-miss as a play-caller, it will be interesting to see how his coaching chops translate now that he is sitting in the big chair at one of the best Group of Six jobs across all of college football.
Right now, Hartline has every reason to flex on everyone on social for what his players accomplished.
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