Brian Hartline on his Ohio State football promotion: ‘feels good, feels normal, ready to roll’

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Brian Hartline has been promoted before. But none have come with the job responsibilities he’s about to undertake.

Hartline, after Chip Kelly departed for the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders in February, was promoted from the team’s receivers coach to offensive coordinator by coach Ryan Day. And with that responsibility comes the duties of calling plays for a national championship offense.

“I think I can’t really assess where I felt then per se, but definitely feels a little different for sure, and I’m just ready to kind of get started with work with these guys and keep building,” Hartline said Friday in his first interview since the promotion. “I mean that’s really (where) my focus is, but as you say that, yeah, it feels good, feels normal, ready to roll.”

Hartline has been with the program since 2017, first as a quality control assistant, then receivers coach from 2018-22.

He was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2023, but Day still kept play-calling duties despite the promotion for Hartline.

Now, he has another task on his plate.

“That perspective that you think you know, you don’t know until you’re in those spots,” Hartline explained. “… And so the amount of growth that you can have individually in that opportunity is as much as you’re willing to make it. I think if you have that mindset, you can grow a lot. If you have a sheltered off mindset like, ‘Oh, I know everything already,’ then you probably won’t grow as much. But that opportunity then was awesome. This opportunity is great and it feels even better currently.”

Hartline was clear that his involvement in the wide receiver room won’t change moving forward. And, judging by the last few years, there was no reason for a change to be made.

“I think it’s more important that I do a great job being organized so I’m never pulled away,” Hartline said. “I will be in that receiver room and they’ll be coached at the very highest level. So I think there’s ways to eliminate being pulled away by being organized on top of things and having the right work and help before that receiver meeting ever happens.”

There’s also the question of how he’ll call plays, whether he’ll be on the sideline or in the press box, something that remains up in the air.

After all, it’s still March.

“Yeah, I gave a lot of thought to it,” Hartline said. “I really haven’t made any final decisions of it, but we’ll make that decision when we kind of get there. Obviously coach Day’s input will be huge. Getting around the staff continuing to see how we build and where we excel, and where maybe we lack I think is really important. But yeah, I’ve given a lot of thought to it. No decisions yet.”

But while there’s not been a decision made on that front yet, the decision to make Hartline the team’s offensive coordinator — one with play-calling responsibilities — doesn’t come lightly.

It’s a role that Day made a priority last offseason, first by bringing in Bill O’Brien and then Kelly. At the time, he was looking for experience outside the building.

This time around, he didn’t need to look very far.