The Ohio State football program has been the top dog all season long. With a dominant defense and an explosive offense, no one has been able to touch them. That was shown in a dominant victory against Michigan last weekend. As they prepare for the Big Ten Championship, they will play the toughest opponent yet.
Indiana has a really good defense, and Ohio State's offense will have to be on point. Hartline's name has been floated around for various head coaching positions, but it looked like he was poised to stay with the Buckeyes for another year. That has now changed.
According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, Hartline is expected to be the next head coach of South Florida. This comes as a shock, considering he was never linked to that job ahead of this announcement. He had been previously linked to the Penn State and Kentucky jobs.
Ohio State is expected to lose Brian Hartline as offensive coordinator
At this point, nothing has been finalized. We have seen various coaches change their minds right at the last second and stay put. Hartline did play for the Miami Dolphins, but that is his only tie to Southern Florida. He has no coaching experience there.
If Hartline does officially leave, this would be a big blow to Ohio State right before the College Football Playoff. He has grown as a play-caller this season and has developed great chemistry with Julian Sayin to figure out what he likes on the play sheet.
Hartline was bound to become a head coach somewhere else at some point. The good news for the Ohio State Buckeyes is that Ryan Day has extensive experience calling plays. If Hartline leaves before the Big Ten Championship or before the College Football Playoff, he can return to that role.
How this affects Ohio State's 2026 recruiting class on Early Signing Day is unclear at this point.