Ohio State started to swing back in fear and doubt right after a historic championship year. Starting from the mass exodus in the portal and the costly departure of Will Howard and a dozen others to the draft. The program also lost its defensive and offensive masterminds, Jim Knowles (to Penn State) and Chip Kelly (who left for the Las Vegas Raiders). Ryan Day sees some holes in his arrayed chessboard. However, as one of his much-needed countermoves, the Ohio State head coach promoted Brian Hartline to the offensive coordinator post. Well, not just that: Ryan Day has tabbed him to call plays in 2025. Can he do justice to one of the most highlighted duties of the offense? Sure, he’s an old hat, but that doesn’t give any passport to your doubts.

You can judge the best college football offensive coordinators by their extraordinary ability to make the right call at the right time. It’s not that they have developed it over time. It’s just their innate football senses doing all the magic, more often than not. But on the other side of the story, it doesn’t imply that someone can’t elevate to the next level by relentless practice and dedication. The time and experience-driven improvement is a genuine possibility. But for the decision-making part, let’s be honest: you can’t spoon-feed.

For Hartline, he has a plus. He has an eminent track record in Columbus, notably as a wide receiver coach. He was highly celebrated for developing gems like Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Jason Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison Jr, and Emeka Egbuka. But this time, he’s chewing on a new duty, but he is not Kelly, who came for a season, gave the team a trophy, set an unforgettable legacy, and left. During the March 12th episode of the Chatsports podcast, host Tom Downey outlined, ”Ryan Day is going to have maybe more input and vice versa, and then he had with Chip Kelly. It’s obviously going to be different with Brian Hartline in the fold as the new playcaller. It has to be, and Ryan Day should be helping Brian Hartline.”

For Ohio State fans, the risk might be a bit palpitating to sit and let things unfold, but the head coach showered confidence on his new OC, the old Ohio State offensive cornerstone. Day noted Hartline executed his works and duties to the best of his ability so far, and he is sure that the new one won’t be an exception. That’s not hyping at all. Hartline will work to his bone to excel in his new position, and maybe, after a few shots, he can hone his craft better. After all, every playcaller was new to their endeavors at one point in time.

”That’s one of the reasons why you’re more comfortable with the first-time play caller at OC, because your O-line coach has done it, not that great, but he did it, and your head coach done it. I do expect some ups and downs early on as some of the more art elements kind of get learned from Hartline,” said Tom, subtly dismissing the idea of a smooth ride for the initial games at least.

But it’s not just his inexperience that strikes a potential problem; there is more to your headache (if you’re a fan).

Brian Hartline triggers more than one insecurity in the Buckeyes offense

Ohio State will mount its post-championship season without quarterback genius Will Howard, and in a word, it won’t be a cakewalk. But they have a loaded QB room featuring freshman Julian Sayin and Tavien St. Clair. All signs pointed at Sayin winning the job at Columbus in the future. He is the kid to carry the torch forward. If you struggle to believe, take a look at his numbers. He was the most valuable player in the Elite 11 and boasted his stats at high school with a 76% pass completion rate for 2,347 yards, scoring 24 touchdowns. So, there’s no question about his talent. But that’s not even the concern.

The looming concern is, can he gel well under the new OC? Can he get the same help that Howard used to get under Kelly? Can the new OC-QB duo make it big against the menacing opponents? Ohio State insider Buckeyescoop fed into the doubt.

Apart from the fact that Hartline will be new to playcalling, the question emerges if he can manage both the WR coach duties and the offensive coordination at the same time while keeping the quality uncompromised. You can boost his multitasker ego with that, but does that help? Never a guarantee, but it’s a worthy gamble. The insider reaffirmed it in both ways. ”I think that’s going to be interesting… I think it is somewhat uncommon to have a wide receivers coach as the offensive coordinator.“

We will see if Hartline proves Day right in his decision and faith at the end of another regular season or if the initial bumps in his road (largely projected to be heavy) cost too much of an image loss to bear for the program.