Hartline is widely regarded as one of the nation's top recruiters and has tutored multiple first-round picks.
According to a report from FootballScoop's John Brice, Ohio State passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline will formally interview for the vacant Cincinnati head coaching job “in the near future, perhaps as soon as soon as Thursday.”
The 36-year-old Hartline, who played for the Buckeyes from 2005-08, is in his fifth season on staff at his alma mater. He notably helped the program end a 15-year drought without a first-round wide receiver in the spring and has produced four 1,000-yard wideouts in the last two seasons.
Hartline has said on numerous occasions that he has no coaching aspirations beyond Ohio State, but his unit’s production and his recruiting acumen make him attractive candidate for the Bearcats, who have an opening after Luke Fickell accepted the same job at Wisconsin.
“Ohio State is my home,” Hartline said last year. “I love it here and it’s a passion here. All I care about is this room, and that’s my main focus and my forever focus. I would be lying if I said I was thinking outside of that.
“I’m also not a person to sit here and tell you, ‘No, I’m never leaving Ohio State.’ I’m not saying I ever will. And you say, ‘Go up the ladder.’ Like, go where? This is the pinnacle of the ladder. And the ego, at this point, is pretty minimal. Maybe other people think so, but I don’t need the satisfaction of calling plays or whatever.
“To me, I’m at the pinnacle of the ladder, so unless there’s a relationship that I know of somebody at this spot, that’s a big question and hard to answer. All I know is I love Ohio State, my wife is from here, we’ve lived here, love my house. It would be really hard to leave. I don’t think that’s ever really in the books.”
Losing Hartline would be a significant blow for the Buckeyes, who currently have three top-100 commits at wide receiver, but an interview doesn’t guarantee he’ll be offered or would accept the job. It’s just the first step the process, and could even lead to an increase in pay or responsibilities in Columbus.
Cincinnati has already interviewed cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator Kerry Coombs, who spent six seasons as Ohio State’s cornerbacks coach from 2012-17, two as the Buckeyes’ defensive coordinator from 2020-21 and was recently promoted to the Bearcats’ interim head coach.
Other candidates for Cincinnati's head coaching job reportedly include Bearcats offensive coordinator Gino Guidugli, James Madison head coach Curt Cignetti, Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and Tennessee offensive coordinator Alex Golesh.
-----
Get your Ohio State football tickets from SI Tickets. Also, be sure to check out our new message boards, Buckeye Forums. We'd love to have you part of the conversation during the season.
-----
You may also like:
-----
Be sure to stay locked into BuckeyesNow all the time!
Join the BuckeyesNow community!
Subscribe to the BuckeyesNow YouTube channel
Follow Andrew Lind on Twitter: @AndrewMLind
Follow BuckeyesNow on Twitter: @BuckeyesNow_FN
Follow BuckeyesNow on Instagram: @BuckeyesNow_FN