South Florida is hiring Brian Hartline to be the 7th coach in program history
The Bulls are hiring Hartline, who is known as a dynamic developer of talent and a strong recruiter.
TAMPA, Fla. — South Florida is hiring former Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline as the seventh head coach in program history.
The move is the first major hire for Rob Higgins, USF’s new CEO of athletics. Hartline is signing a six-year deal with the school.
Hartline will replace Alex Golesh, who accepted the head coaching job at Auburn on Sunday morning.
Hartline has spent the past eight seasons on Ohio State’s coaching staff and has served as one of the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinators for the past three seasons. Ohio State is averaging 37 points per game this year, 13th best in the nation.
Before becoming co-offensive coordinator, Hartline was Ohio State’s wide receivers coach from 2018 to 2021. During his tenure, he helped develop several of the country’s top receivers, including Marvin Harrison Jr., Chris Olave, Emeka Egbuka, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Terry McLaurin, Garrett Wilson and Jeremiah Smith.
Hartline has also been a key recruiter for the Buckeyes, helping the program assemble top-five recruiting classes in each of the past five seasons.
Before entering coaching, Hartline played four seasons at Ohio State as a wide receiver, winning four Big Ten championships. He went on to play seven seasons in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns, finishing with 344 receptions, 4,766 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Hartline is expected to remain with Ohio State through the end of its College Football Playoff run.