Ohio State has officially replaced Chip Kelly after his departure to the National Football League.
The Buckeyes lost Kelly, the team’s offensive coordinator, after they won the National Championship last month. Pete Carroll and the Las Vegas Raiders hired Kelly for a whopping amount to serve under the same role.
Days later, the Buckeyes have their replacement named.
On3 reported on Wednesday that Ohio State will promote Brian Hartline to be the Buckeyes’ next offensive coordinator. The unsurprising choice to promote within will maintain continuity for the reigning National Champions.
The Buckeye offense was one of the best in the nation in 2024 under Kelly. Ohio State finished 14th in the nation in points per game with 35.7. Will Howard finished with over 4,000 passing yards and 35 passing touchdowns. Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson each ran for over 1,000 yards.
Kelly made the most of his stay in Columbus, helping lead the team to its first National Title in ten seasons. His prowess clearly got on Carroll’s radar, and he earned a hefty paycheck in the process.
Brian Hartline is a name known far and wide in Buckeye Nation. The former Ohio State wide receiver starred in two National Championship games in 2006 and 2007. After a seven-year NFL career that spanned from 2009 to 2015, he joined Ohio State as a quality control assistant on offense under Urban Meyer in 2017. Ryan Day retained him after he took the reins and he continued as their wide receivers coach.
Hartline worked as co-offensive coordinator in 2024 and has been the team’s wide receivers coach since 2018. Under Hartline, the Buckeyes have sent a plethora of talented receivers to the NFL on an annual basis. They also typically recruit the best wide receivers in the country.
Ohio State is set to keep on rolling in 2025.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022