Brian Hartline, Ohio State OC and WR coach, takes South Florida head coaching job: Reaction

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Bill and Doug Show - "Brian Hartline, Ohio State OC and WR Coach, Takes South Florida Head Coaching Job: Reaction"

Date: December 3, 2025
Hosts: Doug Lesmerises & Bill Landis (Blue Wire)

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Episode Overview

In this emergency episode, Doug and Bill react to the breaking news that Brian Hartline, Ohio State’s Offensive Coordinator and star Wide Receivers Coach, has accepted the head coaching job at South Florida. Drawing on decades of Buckeye coverage, the hosts break down the implications for Ohio State’s program, recruiting, playcalling responsibilities, and Hartline’s career trajectory. The podcast addresses immediate questions about postseason continuity, staff replacements, recruiting fallout, and broader lessons for elite programs navigating the coaching carousel.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Brian Hartline Accepts South Florida Job—But Stays for Playoff Run

• Hartline will finish Ohio State’s current season before leaving for South Florida, akin to Tom Herman’s Houston move in 2014 (03:00).
• “As Ryan Day said on Wednesday, the timing isn’t great, but that’s not Brian’s fault… it’s the calendar and the way this works.” — Doug Lesmerises [03:00]
• The magnitude of balancing both roles is acknowledged—could be two months of “having two jobs.”

2. Playcalling: Ryan Day’s Role and Impact

• Ryan Day is expected to increase hands-on involvement with the offense in the postseason, a trend even before Hartline’s departure (03:30).
• “Ryan Day can probably take back as much as he wants, at least in the preparation, because Brian Hartline has a million things going on.” — Bill Landis [03:54]
• The lineup and mechanisms for offensive leadership were largely set, so postseason impact is minimal; questions are bigger for next season.

3. Long-Term Implications: Who Replaces Hartline?

• Primary future concerns: new playcaller, new receivers coach, and maintaining recruiting momentum (04:33).
• Keenan Bailey, current tight ends coach, is floated as the likely internal candidate to become receivers coach, praised for versatility and trust from Ryan Day (09:24).
• Speculation over outside possibilities: mention of Mike Shanahan (Indiana), Ross Douglas (Oregon), and the importance of making a solid, rather than just convenient, hire (21:25).

4. Recruiting Fallout

• Hartline is widely considered the best receivers coach and recruiter in the country.
• Recruiting particularly at the WR position is “almost all position coach-based now,” according to OSU recruiting director Mark Pantoni (28:53).
• Immediate recruiting impact: already one receiver (Kaden Dixon-Wyatt) flipped, others wavering, spotlighting Hartline’s influence (27:56).
• The transfer portal offers a critical fallback; high-level talent still wants to play at Ohio State (23:14).

5. Buckeye Program Resilience

• OSU’s brand power, culture, and head coach leadership deemed more determinative than any single assistant’s departure.
• “I will view any Ryan Day hire with more of an eye toward, well, I don’t know, guy probably knows what he’s doing. This is Sabanesque… the ship keeps sailing.” — Doug Lesmerises [13:32]
• Both hosts cite instances of previous key staff departures, some poorly handled (Tim Beck/Ed Warinner era), but the overall program has consistently rebounded.

6. Hartline’s Move—Right Fit and Career Trajectory

• South Florida deemed a smart stepping stone for Hartline, aligning with his Florida recruiting ties, career goals, and program potential.
• “Frankly, I didn’t think it made a lot of sense for some of the other jobs he was talked about for… But this job... I do think is the correct kind of job that can be a stepping stone to something bigger for him.” — Podcast Guest [05:23]
• Hartline’s NFL background, alumni cachet, and recruiting prowess position him for rapid advancement if successful in Tampa.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Buckeye Stability (Culture Over Assistants):
  “Assistant coaches are middle managers. It’s the head coach and it’s the players... This does not mean that Ohio State won’t be able to recruit receivers anymore.” — Doug Lesmerises [07:34]
• Hartline’s Recruiting Legacy:
  “What was Brian Hartline put on this earth to do? Get the number one receiver recruit in the country… to Ohio State instead of Miami, and Brian Hartline did it.” — Bill Landis [24:37]
• On Replacing Coaches:
  “You cannot get somebody to be the receivers coach who will be as good as Brian Hartline. It’s impossible. You can’t do it. But can you get somebody who’s pretty darn good? Yes, you can. You’re Ohio State.” — Bill Landis [19:18]
• Future Job Prospects:
  “If he does well at South Florida for a year or two, I think he potentially positions himself as the number one candidate for the next opening at Miami, Florida State, or Florida.” — Bill Landis [17:12]
• Institution Over Individual:
  “Ryan Day said Ohio State is bigger than anybody. That was expressed to him by Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer… Ohio State was good before Ryan Day took the job and it’ll be good after he leaves.” — Podcast Guest [30:03]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Hartline Takes South Florida Job—Initial Reactions: [01:36-04:37]
• Impact on Play Calling and Staff Duties: [03:30-04:37]
• Hartline’s Fit at USF & Career Move Analysis: [04:42-05:31]
• Main Conversation on Coaching Transition: [05:59-15:55]
• Evaluating the Loss, Buckeye Resilience & Analogies: [11:41-13:32]
• Recruiting Impact & Pantoni Comments: [27:25-29:33]
• Advice for Buckeye Fans—Don’t Panic: [19:44-21:21]
• Hartline's Recruiting Legacy—Securing Jeremiah Smith: [24:18-25:27]

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Conclusion & Takeaways

• Hartline’s departure is a loss for Ohio State, but far from catastrophic. The hosts stress OSU’s unique program resilience, strong talent pipeline, and depth of coaching candidates.
• Ryan Day and the staff anticipated postseason succession plans, minimizing immediate negative impact.
• OSU will feel a short-term recruiting effect at receiver, but the broader appeal of the Buckeye program and portal options offset panic.
• Hartline’s move to South Florida is shrewd both personally and professionally, positioning him for possible rapid ascent in college football’s coaching ranks.
• As Doug and Bill emphasize, institutional strength and strategic hiring matter most; fans should trust in Ohio State’s proven model.

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For ongoing updates, listener questions, and bonus content, Doug and Bill encourage fans to follow their Substack and podcast feeds.

Transcript

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[Doug Lee Maurice]

Welcome back to the Bill and Doug show outside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, a special edition.

[Bill Landis]

Brian Hartline has been hired as a.

[Doug Lee Maurice]

Head coach at South Florida University. Bill, you and I were doing a show for our Substack subscribers on Wednesday morning when that news broke. We talked about it for 20 minutes on the Substack show, but now we're bringing it to our audience here on YouTube and on the podcast feed. And we're saying this stuff at the beginning so it's not confusing.

[Podcast Guest 1]

Yeah, well, also, we have since spoken with Ryan Day about the news as well. I think the biggest thing coming out of that is that Brian Hartline will.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Be staying with the team for the duration of the season.

[Podcast Guest 1]

Details of that still a little fuzzy. I did ask Ryan Day specifically, does that mean you're going to take on more play calling responsibility? And he sort of said like, we're.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Still working through that.

[Podcast Guest 1]

But but I think the biggest thing in addition to the recruiting that is happening on Wednesday that people are wondering is whether or not Brian Hartline will be here for however much longer Ohio State's season is.

[Podcast Guest 2]

And the answer is that he will be.

[Doug Lee Maurice]

And this is something that has happened before. When Ohio State won the national championship in 2014, Tom Herman got the Houston head coaching job, stayed with them through the national championship run they wanted all a very similar comparison here. That's an offensive play caller that stuck around and balanced. You have two jobs for a month. You're nuts individually, but you can do it.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Yeah.

[Podcast Guest 1]

I mean it's a little more stretched out because it really could be. You have two jobs for like almost two months now with the way that this plays out. There will be a lot on Brian Hartline's plate, a lot for him to deal with, but he will still be involved with Ohio State's chase for a second national title.

[Doug Lee Maurice]

As Ryan Day said on Wednesday, the timing isn't great, but that's not Brian's fault.

[Bill Landis]

It's other people's fault. And it is the fault of the.

[Doug Lee Maurice]

The calendar and the way this works. And Ryan doesn't love it, but.

[Podcast Guest 1]

Yeah, but like coaches got hired in.

[Podcast Guest 2]

December before the calendar changed. So like yes and no.

[Doug Lee Maurice]

Like it doesn't happen in the NFL.

[Bill Landis]

Right.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Like, I think, I think he was.

[Podcast Guest 1]

Bemoaning more the fact that it was.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Happening on signing day than he was.

[Bill Landis]

Okay.

[Podcast Guest 2]

The fact that it was happening at all.

[Bill Landis]

Okay, so. So that is happening.

[Doug Lee Maurice]

It is a little complicated. The play calling aspect of it is interesting because we always kind of think that Ryan Day gets a little more involved since he's given up play calling duties. He gets more involved in the postseason anyway because there is more time in general. And so that might have happened anyway. But if Brian Hartline wasn't leaving, it might be like, well, I want to.

[Bill Landis]

Bigfoot Brian Hartline because I gave him the job.

[Doug Lee Maurice]

But now it's like, well, you can.

[Bill Landis]

Bigfoot him because he's got to like if Ryan Day.

[Doug Lee Maurice]

Ryan Day can probably take back as much as he wants, at least in the preparation because Brian Hartline has a.

[Bill Landis]

Million things going on.

[Podcast Guest 1]

He was going to do it anyway. I actually think this has almost little to no impact on the 2025 Ohio State Buckeyes because Ryan Day, as he said last year, wants the like the recruiting stuff died down and some of his CEO responsibilities were kind of like stripped away for a little bit.

[Podcast Guest 2]

He could get be more about ball.

[Podcast Guest 1]

In the postseason and he loved it and he was definitely going to do that this time around. It's more important I guess this time around.

[Podcast Guest 2]

But.

[Podcast Guest 1]

But I actually think sort of like the, the mechanisms to account for this change of Brian Hartline were sort of already going to be in place anyway. That the questions for this are, are.

[Podcast Guest 2]

More about like next year, like who.

[Podcast Guest 1]

Replaces him, the recruiting aspect, all that.

[Podcast Guest 2]

I don't know that this does Anything really to alter Ohio State's chances of winning a national title this year.

[Doug Lee Maurice]

We do think this, you have been talking about this, this South Florida opportunity, like sort of vaguely, sort of generally like a job like South Florida. And then as soon as it opened.

[Bill Landis]

Up, you, you kind of like Brian Hartline in South Florida as a pair.

[Podcast Guest 1]

Yeah, I think it makes a ton of sense. Obviously, he recruits really well down in the state of Florida. Ohio State always has. But Brian Hartline especially has been very good at that. It's a good, good program in its conference. They're opening a new stadium in two seasons. They want to be good. They don't want to be a bad team. When that happens. They, they're invested. Their previous head coach just got the Auburn job. There are a lot of reasons why I think it makes sense for Brian Hartline to take this job. Frankly, I didn't think it made a lot of sense for some of the other jobs he was talked about for, whether that's Kentucky or, or Penn State.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Which always felt like a bit of.

[Podcast Guest 1]

A pie in the sky thing anyway. But this job, although it is Group of five and not power Power conference level, I do think is the correct kind of job.

[Podcast Guest 2]

That can be a stepping stone to.

[Podcast Guest 1]

Something bigger for him.

[Doug Lee Maurice]

All right, we had a 20 minute conversation about this as the news broke. We'll give that to you guys now, then come back at the end and talk a little bit more about the recruiting perspective, what Mark Pantoni, Ohio State's recruiting director, had to say about this for now. Thanks for being here on the Bill and Doug Show. Again, if you want to be a Substack subscriber, our Substack subscribers already got this conversation. They get extra stuff from us. You can do that by joining us at Bill and Doug. Osu.substack.com here's the conversation right after the.

[Bill Landis]

News broke on Wednesday morning. What does this mean for Ohio State? Do we expect a significant drop off in their recruiting development and level of play at receiver if Brian Hartline's not the guy leading the room?

[Podcast Guest 2]

I don't know that I'd say significant drop off. Drop off. Yeah, I think, like just to like be fair about it and, and give credit to Brian Hartline and what he's done, to assume that it's going to be exactly the same with no hiccups would be probably a little foolish. So.

Yeah, it might, it might take a momentary dip, but then I think Ohio State can build it back up. Right. So I'm not suddenly worried for Ohio State's future because Brian Hartline is no longer here. He's an excellent coach. He's a great recruiter. He's an incredible developer of receivers. Ohio State has been Ohio State for a long time. I don't, I don't think that this changes because they're losing Brian Hartline.

[Bill Landis]

This is maybe the. And it's just because he is the best position coach in America. So I would say this is.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Yeah. At a position that has been fundamental to Ohio State's rise under Ryan Day. Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

So that this, I would say maybe is like the. The biggest position coach loss that Ohio State has experienced that I can think of. I don't know that that's too much to say. Yeah, I think you can say that and also say, I don't think it destroys Ohio State because you. I'll go back. Right.

Assistant coaches are middle managers. It's the head coach and it's the players. Now when the assistant coach is primarily responsible for the type of players you bring in and then how you develop them, that's hugely important. But I. This does not mean that Ohio State.

Won'T be able to recruit receivers anymore. Receivers. And again, that's why I asked Marvin Harrison Jr. About it several years ago at Big Ten Day media days. And he's like, why do you come here? And he mentioned Ryan Day, the Ryan Day offense that still remains attractive, I think, to receivers. And so that ability to recruit quarterbacks, quarterbacks who are accurate and throw the ball and give receivers an opportunity to make great plays, and then those receivers make the quarterbacks look great. Like the symbiotic relationship between those. Ryan Day is. Is still a huge part of that, even though Brian Hartline was obviously a huge part of that. I wonder, part of me wonders immediately, would Keenan Bailey go with Brian Hartline to maybe be like his offensive coordinator? Or would Keenan Bailey stay here potentially as the new receivers coach with elevated play calling status? I don't know if that would be required to keep Keenan Bailey. Ryan Day loves Keenan Bailey, but Keenan Bailey is also very tight with Brian Hartline. Right. I do think whether or not Bailey is retained or whether he goes with heartline is a little bit part of this conversation. It's not the primary part, but I'm curious about.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Would be a heck of a thing for Brian Hartline, who has one year as a play caller, to go take his first head coaching job and then make his OC A guy who's never called plays before.

I don't know that I was worried about that.

[Bill Landis]

Is if it's not that, then Keenan wouldn't go. Then Bailey wouldn't go. If he's not getting an elevation. Right. So even.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

So then do you think there's a good chance that Keenan Bailey becomes a receivers coach or do you think they. Do you think Devin Jordan gets elevated? Do you think they go outside?

[Podcast Guest 2]

I. People have asked this question of me a couple times because we were talking about Heartline at Penn State and Heartline generally just leaving. Who would be receivers coach? My answer has always been Keenan Bailey. I think he is. He has coached every position on the offense except for offensive line.

And I think he is highly thought of both as an on field coach and a recruiter by Ryan Day. That he would be the guy tapped to like, step into those shoes. Yes. And then they would have to find a new tight ends coach, obviously to replace Keenan Bailey and then a new play caller. I don't think Ohio State's next play callers on the staff.

[Bill Landis]

I agree with that. And so. But now there's also kind of like, there's no limits on anything. So you, if you want to, you can go get a play caller who just calls plays. You don't have to try to find.

[Podcast Guest 2]

I wonder if one's available.

[Bill Landis]

Do you think that could happen? Obviously you're referencing Chip Kelly.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Do you think that could happen? Yeah, yeah. I mean, and that's not me reporting anything, but, yeah, like, logically, sure. Unless, like, I don't think Ryan Day, like secretly hates Chip Kelly's guts or anything like that. So. Yes. As if, if Chip wants to. Chip's in his 60s. Right. Like, Chip is older than you think he is. Maybe he wants to take the money that Mark Davis gave him and go sip umbrella drinks. I wouldn't blame him.

But yeah, that would be the. I think like the logical guy. Whether that's like, come in now at the postseason and like, help out and then transition back to that role or just wait for this to play. I'm like, again, we're learning this on the fly. I'm assuming Brian Hartline is going to stay with Ohio State through the postseason, but because it's a heck of a promotional. It's Tom Herman. Like, Tom Herman. Tom Herman got his photo taken on the field after winning a national championship wearing Houston gear. You know who wants to do that?

[Podcast Guest 1]

Brian Hartline.

[Podcast Guest 2]

So, like, I don't, I don't. I don't know that this does anything to like, impact Ohio State's next month and a half.

Other than maybe some recruiting stuff with this with this current class.

But then, yeah, when they're looking for a play caller after the season, I think Chip is probably the first name on everyone's list.

[Bill Landis]

Okay, so on A scale of 1 to 100, 100 is absolute devastation for Ohio State. One is they're fine. What does losing Brian Hartline. What. What would you rate it right now?

[Podcast Guest 2]

49.

[Bill Landis]

Because I think if you're rolling, it should be impossible to be above 50. That I don't think if you're rolling and you have a culture and a head coach and resources, I don't think losing any assistance should be more than a 50.

And then this is butting up like right up against that limit. So I think I'm with you. Like, it's right. Like in the 40s, probably. But this is what we talked about again with the Ryan Day. And I was just on a radio show yesterday talking about this. That to me at least my perspective has changed. A year ago, Jim Knowles and Chip Kelly were viewed as the best recruiting. Excuse me. Were viewed as the best coordinator combo in the country. Yes, Chip Kelly and Jim Knowles.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Yeah, they were. Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah.

[Podcast Guest 2]

I think people would probably do revisionist history and say no, but at the time, yeah, it felt like it and.

[Bill Landis]

Primarily important to Ohio State success. And they left and Chip Kelly got fired. Didn't even make it a season in the NFL. And Jim Knowles oversaw the collapse of Penn State as a program. So, like, not that it's all Jim Knowles's fault, but it's probably his fault if that defense had stopped ucla. James Franklin probably has a job. So, yeah, like, people thought they were excellent and they left and it felt like a big loss. And then they both failed this year. That's. That doesn't mean they are failures. They failed at their jobs this year. That has. And guess what? They promoted Brian Hartline and they brought in Matt Patricia, who nobody was looking to hire. And they're better as a program. I don't know if they're better at the coordinator spot specifically, who knows? But they're better as a program. So I think we. I am kind of going to be. It doesn't mean that Ryan Day is above criticism, but I will view any Ryan Day higher with more of an eye toward. Well, I don't know. Guy probably knows what he's doing. And so this is Sabanesque record. Coordinators run through your program. Now, Kirby was there for a long time with Nick Saban, but other than that, coordinators run through and the ship keep sailing. So I think that should be the assumption probably now with Ryan Day, until proven otherwise. Yes.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Yeah, I think so. I think he's, he's earned that benefit of the doubt. Clearly had to learn some stuff and, and yes, took some l took some L's right. On, on staff hires that did impact Ohio State negatively. But I do really feel like he's kind of learned from that and is in a much better spot when it comes to building a staff. So, like, like anything, like, of course it could go sideways.

But I, I, I, I, I trust it. I think, you know, not, not to say, like, like you said, he's above criticism or we're just going to go along with everything he does and tell you it's great. But like, I give him a chance to show you what he wants to do with it first. I think before you just assume it's going to go poorly.

[Bill Landis]

And really, I mean, like, again, no offense to Brian Hartline, but as a play caller, he's replaceable, right?

[Podcast Guest 2]

He's imminently, eminently replaceable as a play caller, yes.

[Bill Landis]

As a receivers coach, he's perhaps irreplaceable, but you have to replace him anyway. Like, it's not your choice. And so I think Ohio State, it feels like Ohio State has done everything it can to keep Brian Hartline. We don't know the specifics of this. We don't know the money situation, but they did give him the promotion right after it didn't go well a couple years ago. They go back to it now. They did that. I don't, we don't know the specifics.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Of, like, I bet he's not getting a huge race. I looked it up the other day. Alex golish is making 2.5, heartland makes 2. Okay, so like, maybe hardline's making 3.

[Bill Landis]

And I certainly had been theorizing, like, does he just want to stay until he gets the perfect job? Does he want to stay at Ohio State and be the coordinator and the receivers coach until he gets offered one of the 10 best jobs in the country? I thought that would have been a reasonable choice and maybe he wanted that as a, as an alum of Ohio State. And South Florida is not one of the 10 best jobs in the country. But obviously that's not what he wanted. He wanted. He thinks he's ready to go be a head coach and he needs to.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Learn how to be a head coach in South Florida affords him that opportunity while giving me a great opportunity to win. He can get his teeth kicked in at Auburn if he wants to. But, like, this is, I think this is a great. I don't know if he's going to be a good head coach but if he's going to be a good head coach, like this is the place where you go first to be successful.

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[Podcast Guest 2]

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[Bill Landis]

And if he is good there and he does, he played with the Dolphins for a while like, like he's got and he has Florida recruiting roots.

[Podcast Guest 2]

If he does Florida by the way in Tampa. Don't know why.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah, that's true.

That is weird. If he does well at South Florida for a year or two, I think he potentially positions positions himself as the number one candidate for the next opening at Miami, Florida State or Florida. And Mike Norvell is on the hottest of hot seats at Florida State. Florida just not hired a new coach and John Sumrall but we have no idea how that's going to go. And Mario Cristobal keeps gathering talent and like kind of screwing it up during the regular season. So the idea that I mean one of those three jobs is going to come open in the next three years. No doubt about it. No doubt about it.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

And if Brian Hartline is sitting at south Florida going 10 and 2 and making the playoff, they're going to be banging down his door.

[Podcast Guest 2]

I don't even think has to make the playoff. Just I mean obviously if you win the American you're more than likely to but like Alex, Alex Gollish isn't in the playoff. Alex. Gosh. Nine and three this year the SEC.

[Bill Landis]

Hired three American coaches.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

And. And the Big 12 hired one. Like the four best coaches in the American this year. All got jobs in the powerful.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Yes, yes. I think when it comes to the SEC hiring group of six coaches, they care less about actually how much you've won and lost and more about how well you recruit to those places.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah. So. So again, like, that's. That's a Brian Heartline conversation for Ohio State fans. This is an Ohio State conversation. And I just don't ever think you can o. It's not worth it to overreact to assistant coach moves because there have been too many guys that people have thought and of course it goes wrong when like, they did a terrible job replacing Tom Herman and it hurt them in 15. I think it's possible if Tom Herman was the offensive coordinator in 15, they would have repeated among all the other things, but it's because they made a horrendous hire. So is it like, oh, assistant coaches don't matter. It's like assistant coaches don't matter if you don't make a horrendous hire. Tim Beck was a horrendous hire. Promoting Ed Warner was a horrendous decision. There are many people out there as a play caller that you can get and then you cannot get somebody to be the receivers coach who will be as good as Brian Hartline. It's impossible. You can't do it. But can you get somebody who's pretty darn good? Yes, you can. You're Ohio State and maybe that guy's in your building, maybe he's not. So there's going to be a drop off, but it does not have to be devastating if you make the right hire. And that's why Ryan Day, part of the reason why he makes the big money and he's proven with the last couple hires that he's gotten much better at this.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

So there have been too many times we thought Kerry Combs was like the end all be all in terms of a recruiter and a. And a cornerback developer. Right. And then obviously he wasn't a good defensive coordinator. But we thought Kerry Combs was an elite position coach, did we not?

[Podcast Guest 2]

Yeah, we did, of course.

[Bill Landis]

And the. When he left the first time and got replaced by Tavor Johnson, like, it didn't go so well, but it's because it wasn't a good hire. And then it did go terribly. And then when he came back and then when he got replaced again, he got replaced by Tim Walton. We didn't know Who Tim Walton was. Guess what? Tim Walton is awesome. So nobody's pining for Kerry Combs now. So when Kerry Combs was replaced by a bad hire, you really miss Kerry Combs. When Kerry Combs was replaced by a great hire, Tim Walton is awesome. So that's the point. There's an. When you're at Ohio State, you always have the opportunity to make a great hire. You just have to make it. It's not a guarantee, but you can't. You. It just doesn't serve any purpose to walk around and think, well, I thought Ohio State was going to win three of the next five national championships, but now that Brian Hartline left, it's not going to happen. There's no reason to think like that.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Do you know who's a receiver's coach and a pretty good play caller? Mike Shanahan in Indiana.

[Bill Landis]

Okay. Also, by the way, not above stealing. Just saying, like, like Urban Meyrick got to Ohio State and just took like, Indiana's coaching staff. Excuse me, Notre Dame's coaching staff. Right.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

It was like, what? So, like, like you don't. Sometimes you don't have to be a genius. And it's like, oh, Jim Knowles was like the hottest guy in the market. So it's like, maybe you don't need to do that, but you can just look around at the good people.

Mike Shanahan is really good.

[Podcast Guest 2]

I don't know. Like, I'm just trying to think, like, I, I do think what will happen here is that Ryan Day will go find a new play caller and move Keenan Bailey to receivers coach.

But just like trying to think of, like, guys around the country who are good receivers coaches. Jamarcus shepherd at Alabama, very good. But he just got the Oregon State head coaching job. Yeah. I think Ross Douglas at Oregon is like a younger guy, kind of on the up, but he seems like he's got some juice. And he's from Ohio.

Played at Michigan, I think.

[Bill Landis]

Is that right?

[Podcast Guest 2]

He's from Avon, I believe, and played at Michigan.

Yeah. 31 years old from Avon.

[Bill Landis]

And this is one of the goes in. Like Oregon is losing both its coordinators because their DC is taking the Cal job and their, their OC is taking the Kentucky job. So, like, this is, this is what happens. Like, this is. It's a. When, when you get to the spot where nobody wants your assistance, then you're in trouble. So I do think maybe we looked at Heartline a little differently because he's on alum because he has NFL money, he doesn't have to chase But I think your point, which is very astute, would be like, this isn't chasing. This is, this is a strategic move and makes a lot of sense in a lot of different ways that you've been spelling out again four months.

[Podcast Guest 2]

It's just like, yeah, like I said, too much of it lines up right.

[Bill Landis]

I think.

[Podcast Guest 2]

And I mean if they're restated, people know why. So I'm not, I'm not surprised at all that this is happening. Once it wasn't really reported, I guess like at all, but like once Gough, I was like, I think Hardline's gonna go there. So.

Not surprised. Be interested to see what happens with this recruiting class. That's like the, the immediate concern, I guess, but I don't know that there is like a high, high level of concern beyond that.

[Bill Landis]

And listen, this is just, you just have to be realistic about this. I do think like people are going crazy about the Penn State stuff and they're losing the, this recruiting class and stuff. You just can't ever make any decision based on the single recruiting class. When there's change, you're going to get screwed up in recruiting for a year. You're making a long term hire. If Ohio State loses a couple guys in this recruiting class, they're going to give a million dollars to Nick Marsh from Michigan State who's in the transfer portal. Like they haven't done that. But if that's what they need to do to patch this together because of the, maybe the lack of development with a couple guys we've talked about this year and maybe if for whatever reason it doesn't go well on Wednesday, I'll just go in the portal and fix it. Because guess, like who would want to come here? Great receivers.

[Podcast Guest 2]

And guess in this offense, yeah, they would.

[Bill Landis]

They will pay to go get great receivers.

[Podcast Guest 2]

So like Jeremiah Smith's going anywhere. You want to play next to Jeremiah Smith and take advantage of all that gravity.

[Sustain Pro Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Bill Landis]

You don't think Jeremiah Smith's following Brian Hartline to South Florida?

[Podcast Guest 2]

Not unless it's to train and not play college football.

[Bill Landis]

So listen, here's the other thing too. Like if that was Brian Hartline's last great act and maybe it's not in this class today, who knows? But Brian Hartline got Jeremiah Smith here.

Like he stayed. It's always like one of those things, like I was put on this earth, right, to do something. What was Brian Hartline put on this earth to do? Get the number one receiver recruit in the country who's maybe the best receiver prospect that Anybody has seen get him to go to Ohio State instead of Miami and Brian Hartline did it and the result was national championship shot at a national championship. I mean what if probably like, like he's the best player in the sport at his position and he's incredibly impactful on winning and helping Ohio State win. Natties like I Ohio State, Buckeye Nation. That's a thank you Brian Hart line. Best of luck. And maybe, maybe the next time there's a Jeremiah Smith, maybe they won't get him, maybe they won't.

But they'll get other really good players. So you just best elected Brian Hartline and you like the move for him and Ohio State. We'll just. It'll be very interesting to monitor. But they have a guy in house, Ryan Day. I don't. I've criticized hiring the guy down the hall in the past. I don't think Keenan Bailey is just a guy down the hall. And Keenan Bailey, when he got here, did extra things, did things above and beyond, showed some intuition for the game, showed some go get itness and impressed Ryan Day and worked and earned and has learned from Brian Hartline and I think if that's what happened, would be very prepared for this. And it is a guy who is taking advantage of an opportunity. Nada. He. We're just take him and promote him because he's familiar. That's my view.

[Podcast Guest 2]

That's. Yeah, that's kind of my view on him too. I think he's. I actually think he's done a pretty good job with the tight end room recruiting certainly. But I think like you've seen that room to develop over the course of the year. It's been an incredibly important position group for, for Ohio State. So like that I would find that encouraging. And if you're just talking about like he's sliding over to receivers coach and maybe whatever you give him passing game coordinator title or something like that. As long as he's not the play caller, I'm cool with it. I don't. And I don't think they would do that. I don't think that's what would happen. So yeah, I think it would make sense. And then you backfill at tight end. They have a guy on staff, actually Wendy Laurent, who's the assistant tight ends coach that they hired this off season, who was the tight ends coach at Dartmouth and was a ga. At Penn State. He's a former Penn State player and I do think tight ends coach is probably a position where you can like cut your teeth a little bit. So I wonder maybe if they could do that or they go out and whatever, find somebody else. I, I don't know. We don't. I think that's probably the least concern for people is figuring out who the next tight ends coach would be if Keenan Bailey slides over. But I do think that's where it'll go. If I had to guess. Okay, and then, and then the search will be on for a play caller.

[Doug Lee Maurice]

So that was a conversation as it happened, Bill. Now, obviously from recruiting perspective, as we talked about Brian Hartline, great at it, specifically, Ohio State had five receivers into the class verbally committed coming into Wednesday. One is already flipped out. That happened quickly.

[Bill Landis]

Two signed as we record this.

[Doug Lee Maurice]

And the Buckeye is waiting on two as we record this. It's an interesting situation here.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Yeah.

[Podcast Guest 1]

The one, the two are waiting on Chris Henry Jr. The top receiver in the country, and Jaden Guilford, who is not as highly.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Ranked but still a very, very good.

[Podcast Guest 1]

Player, a player that Ohio State is very high on. All three of the guys, the one you alluded to who flipped Kaden, Dixon Wyatt, Chris Henry Jr. And and Guilford have all been like rumored to be at least a little flimsy in their commitments in like the past few days, even before we knew any of the stuff was happening with Brian Hartline. LSU involved with Guilford, Oregon and USC involved with Dixon Wyatt and Chris Henry.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Jr. USC being the school that did flip Kate and Dixon Wyatt. So this is just sort of like.

[Podcast Guest 1]

Exacerbated a thing that I think Ohio State was already sort of trying to navigate, but obviously becomes much more difficult now. You know, it speaks to Brian's heartline. Brian Hartline's influence as a recruiter.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Right.

[Podcast Guest 1]

Leaves on signing day and they have a couple of five star ish guys are waiting on. I don't think anybody's surprised that maybe those guys are waffling a little bit, but we'll see where it goes.

[Bill Landis]

Yeah.

[Doug Lee Maurice]

And Mark Pantoni, the recruiting guru, like.

[Bill Landis]

Made it clear in this day and.

[Doug Lee Maurice]

Age, there used to be sort of like area recruiters where you'd have states.

[Bill Landis]

And regions and cities where you made.

[Doug Lee Maurice]

Connections and then you also recruited your position.

[Bill Landis]

He said it's basically all position coaches anymore.

[Doug Lee Maurice]

So Brian Hartline is the guy who recruits the receivers.

[Bill Landis]

But they, he said they want to.

[Doug Lee Maurice]

Make sure that every recruit builds relationships with the coordinators, with the head coach in case something like this happens. Ryan Day said on Wednesday that it's his job to hire the best in the country and that will be their Goal. But obviously, you know, Mark Pantone said that the position coach is the point guy on this and when it comes to that, Brian Hartline has been as good as anybody in the country. This obviously will have some effect. It has a great effect on Ohio State today. But in recruiting receivers going forward and we talked about it already, it's going to have some effect.

[Podcast Guest 1]

Yeah, I think it'll be sort of, it'll be first come, come down to what Ryan Day decides to do, obviously. But then, you know, you might need some help from a guy like Jeremiah Smith.

[Podcast Guest 2]

Right.

[Podcast Guest 1]

Like, like sort of stamping whoever that next coach is. We don't think Jeremiah going anywhere. He's got one more year of college ball left.

[Podcast Guest 2]

So like if he gives his endorsement.

[Podcast Guest 1]

To that guy, I think that would resonate with a lot of future high school players. It was interesting to me that Mark Pantoni said something and Ryan Day said something. Both sort of like unprovoked, at the very least. Things they didn't have to say in.

[Podcast Guest 2]

The answers to the questions they were asked.

[Podcast Guest 1]

Ryan Day said Ohio State is bigger than anybody. That was expressed to him by Jim Trestle and Urban Meyer when he took this job. That Ohio State was good before Ryan Day's took it, took the job and it'll be good after he leaves. And then Mark Bentoni said that. I'm sure Ryan Day has 50 missed calls from some of the best receiver coaches in the country waiting to step in and fill Brian Hartline's shoes. So like they're very much trying to get out in front of the fact that yes, we're losing the best receivers coach in the country but they, whoever.

[Podcast Guest 2]

They go get now, they think is going to be the next best receivers coach in the country.

[Doug Lee Maurice]

If you're watching here on YouTube, sorry, the video is shaking a little bit. My arm is getting really tired. That's going to wrap it up. Thanks for joining us here. This emergency version on YouTube and podcast feeds at Brian Hartline going to south Florida. You know where to find us. We'll keep covering this team.

[Bill Landis]

There's a lot going on and we couldn't be happier to have so much to talk about. He's Bill Landis.

[Doug Lee Maurice]

I'm Doug Lee Maurice and that was the Bill and Doug Show.

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[Bill Landis]

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[Bill Landis]

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