Penn State football lost again this weekend, but on the bright side, Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Pat Kraft was in Columbus to lay down the foundations for bringing in Buckeye offensive coordinator Brian Hartline.

A video of Pat Kraft and Ohio State head coach Ryan Day went viral on social media after the game, following rumors of a private jet landing in State College from the Ohio State airport this week.

Ryan Day and Pat Kraft converse postgame.

Deduce what you will pic.twitter.com/drVIggcOma

— kylegolikfb (@kylegolikfb) November 1, 2025

For the most part, the link makes sense. Penn State fans have long been asking for a change in receiving culture. The Nittany Lions struggled to gain a single receiving yard from their wide receivers last season in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

This season has been no different, with a lack of a vertical threat potentially being the root of the 2025 season’s issues. Hartline would fix this and fast. He is the nation’s best recruiter when it comes to wide receivers, and it’s not close.

Hartline first became the Buckeyes’ wide receiver coach in 2018 and has been in charge of the recruitment and development of athletes like Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Jaxson Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison, and now Jeremiah Smith.

If Saturday’s game was a test for the newly promoted offensive coordinator, he passed with flying colors. Ohio State threw for over 300 yards, with the nation’s two best receivers in Carnell Tate and Smith accounting for 247 of those and three touchdowns.

Hartline’s move to the Nittany Lions also mirrors the recent trend of Power Four teams with hirings. Oregon went after Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning, Arizona State went after Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham, and Texas went after Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.

History

Hartline has had a much simpler path to the top of college football than most of the other Penn State coaching candidates. The 37-year-old has only ever worked for Ohio State.

This came after a successful career playing football. Hartline played for GlenOak High School in Ohio, less than a two-hour drive from Ohio Stadium. He was initially a quarterback, but switched to receiver during his sophomore season.

Hartline committed to Ohio State as a three-star prospect and the No. 27 wide receiver in the class of 2005, per 247Sports composite rankings. After redshirting his freshman season, Hartline recorded 52 catches for 694 yards on his way to a BCS National Championship game in 2008.

The receiver went in the fourth round of the 2009 NFL Draft to the Miami Dolphins. Hartline finished his rookie season with 31 receptions and 506 receiving yards with three touchdowns, leading his team. He stayed with the Dolphins until 2014, when he joined the Browns for his final season of professional football.

Hartline joined the Buckeyes as an offensive quality control assistant for his first coaching role in 2017. Just a year later, he was promoted to wide receivers coach, where he held the position until 2023.

In that time, Marvin Harrison Jr. won the 2023 Biletnikoff Award while Olave, Wilson, and Smith-Njigba were all named All-Americans. In 2021, Smith-Njigba, Wilson, and Olave all finished in the Ohio State single-season top 10s for yards and receptions.

Hartline was promoted to co-offensive coordinator in 2023 but was stripped of play-calling duties during the spring. He has held that role through this season, but is now in charge of playcalling for the first time.

Is It Realistic?

This move makes sense for both sides. Hartline is only making $2 million annually through January 31, 2028. Penn State would likely offer him 3-4 times that number to make the move to Happy Valley.

In 2019, he was honored by the American Football Coaches Association as one of its AFCA 35 Under 35 honorees as a future leader. While Hartline has not addressed the job opening, if he is looking to take the step to head coach, there likely won’t be a better opportunity than this one for quite some time.

His young age does raise questions, though. Dillingham is the youngest head coach in Power Four right now, but even he had been an offensive coordinator for five years before becoming a head coach. The inexperience could scare Kraft, who will be feeling a lot of pressure to get this hiring right.

Hartline, like every coach in the candidacy it feels like, is an Ohio State alumnus. It takes a lot more for people to leave the school that has given them so much. This is even more the case when it’s leaving for a conference rival.