Brian Hartline wasn't all bad during his two separate stints as the Ohio State Buckeyes' offensive coordinator in 2023 and 2025. Sure, Kyle McCord had his best season with the Syracuse Orange after leaving Columbus, but Julian Sayin was a Heisman finalist, Carnell Tate played his way into top-five NFL draft consideration despite questionable NFL Combine measurables, and Jeremiah Smith is already in consideration for next year's top draft pick because of what we just saw last fall with Hartline at the helm of OSU's offense.
Clearly, it wasn't all bad. In fact, it wasn't "bad" by any measure, and should go down as a successful tenure, minus the complete collapse in the postseason when Hartline botched the play-calling baton hand-off to Ryan Day.
Bucknuts' Patrick Murphy made an important point about Hartline's time as the Buckeyes' lead play-caller for the better part of the last three years in a larger overall point about Arthur Smith's experience being a major positive this fall:
Ohio State was far from perfect from a play-calling perspective, but the Buckeyes still had one of the best attacks in the nation this past year. That's how fans should view Hartline's final year with his alma mater before becoming a first-time head coach with the USF Bulls.
"It's unfair to label 's tenure as Ohio State's offensive coordinator and playcaller as a failure. While the Buckeye offense at times felt out of rhythm and lacked the explosiveness fans have come to expect, it was still one of the best in college football in 2025," Murphy wrote.
Brian Hartline's USF tenure will be successful if he can delegate duties
As Murphy explained, Hartline didn't have the whole play-calling thing under control. Oftentimes, Day had to help him. That sounds worrying on the surface for those down in Tampa expecting him to be a CEO.
Hartline doesn't have to be a CEO, though. He can focus on reeling in elite skill-position players and hiring the right personnel, then allow Tim Beck to call plays. Beck has been part of successful Buckeyes offenses in the past, though they were flawed in pass-protection. That was in the Big Ten, though. American defenses don't pose the same challenges.
Hartline should be fine at the level he's at. He'll probably want to learn the head coaching craft before moving up to the Power 4 ranks, though. He never truly mastered the art of play-calling, but as head coach, he can simply do what he's good at and hope to delegate other duties successfully.