Former Ohio State offensive coordinator and wide receiver coach Brian Hartline lists the top-10 receivers that he coached at Ohio State.
Former Ohio State offensive coordinator and wide receiver coach Brian Hartline got backed into a corner. He was asked by Steve Smith to rank the top 10 wide receivers that he coached at Ohio State.
This is the equivalent of ranking your children or ranking your family members, but Hartline was a great sport about the exercise and bought all the way in.
The way his rankings landed was basically the old guard in spots 10-6 and then the recent era in spots 5-1. The criteria for the list were players who are not actively playing at Ohio State (Jeremiah Smith) and have put together at least some career in the NFL.
10. Austin Mack
9. Terry McLaurin
8. KJ Hill
7. Parris Campbell
6. Jameson Williams
5. Jaxon Smith-Njigba
4. Chris Olave
3. Emeka Egbuka
2. Garrett Wilson
1. Marvin Harrison Jr.
He went through the description, and the "why" behind each guy and each player fits exactly where they are. It's a fascinating list, and the major takeaway is that Hartline brought in an amazing collection of players, most of whom turned into amazing players.
Hartline's room was always loaded. From day one, when he was coaching Terry McLaurin and KJ Hill, to his final days coaching Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate, and Emeka Egbuka.
Now, from a rankings perspective, the one name that stands out on this list is Austin Mack. Mack was a really solid Buckeye who just never caught on in the NFL. He is currently still competing in the CFL and making a name for himself.
McLaurin and Hill are the former teammates who spent time together in the same room and during Hartline's first couple of years coaching at Ohio State.
Parris Campbell is the one who, in my opinion, is a bit too high. I would flip McLaurin and Campbell, and that is probably because of the way their NFL careers panned out.
Jameson Williams has the asterisk on it because he finished his career at Alabama before getting to the league and tearing it up for the Lions.
Spots five through one are all a toss-up. You could write each name on a piece of paper, throw it in a hat, and pick them out one by one. Each of these guys was so elite at Ohio State and has continued their elite wide receiver play at the next level.
JSN got dinged because he really only got one season of football thanks to COVID and his injuries. Marvin was the top dog because he was one of the greatest college receivers of all time.
Olave, Egbuka, and Wilson are all very similar in the sense that they were so dominant at everything that is required of a wide receiver.
This was a fun exercise to listen to Hartline go through. The only thing that you thought about while he was describing it all was simply how great the receivers have been through the entirety of Hartline's time coaching at Ohio State.
This is a top-10 list that stands up against any other ranking for any other school throughout the history of football. It just so happens that this is the reflection of the Buckeyes greatness.
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