With the news Sunday night that Chip Kelly is leaving Ohio State to be the offensive coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders, it's time for Brian Hartline to lead the Buckeye offense. The 2024 national championship run proved that Ryan Day stepping back from the offense to be able to be equally part of every facet of the team is the way for him and Ohio State to go.
That means it's Brian Hartline's time to be the leader of the offense like Chip Kelly was in 2024. If you're Ryan Day, you have to trust him to run the offense. He's been the best wide receivers coach in the country for coordinator for seven seasons and has been an offensive coordinator for two seasons.
We know Day mostly ran the offense in 2023 and Kelly mostly in 2024, Hartline was there with them every step of the way for two seasons, a 25-4 record, and a national championship. If you can't trust him to be that guy who runs things now, you'll never be able to. With losing Kelly, Justin Frye the offensive line coach, and Jim Knowles the defensive coordinator, this is the no-brainer hire/promotion for Day.
Hartline has recruited and developed the elite wide receivers that have been the corps of all of Ryan Day's offenses. He's earned this opportunity, even if there are bumps in the road. There are going to be bumps in the road this year with the exodus of talent and coaches, but that happens almost every year. Places like Ohio State don't rebuild they reload. Letting Brian Hartline run the offense is just reloading.
Regardless of what we Ohio State fans want, think, or say, Ryan Day and Brian Hartline will both do what they believe to be best for Ohio State, their coaches, their players, and their fans. And since they just won a national championship, I think they've more than earned Buckeye Nation's trust.