Wide receivers coach Brian Hartline is at Ohio State for the long haul

“I hope I’m here for a long time. Again, I’ve earned it year in and year out. It’s not given to anybody. But currently, I have no desire to go there, go here. I love being here. I love talking to you guys and it’s very natural and easy to shoot it from the heart, so I prefer to live in that world. I’ll be here as long as hopefully they’ll have me.”

Ohio State wide receivers coach Brian Hartline via Tony Gerdeman, The Ozone

With the wide receivers Ohio State was able to earn commitments from in their latest recruiting class, I don’t think the Buckeyes are looking to get rid of wide receivers coach Brian Hartline anytime soon. After taking over for Zach Smith, Ohio State’s wide receivers have improved dramatically on the field, and the Buckeyes are bringing in some of the top talent in the nation.

While most coaches who have excelled in a short amount of time like Hartline has would be looking at the next step in their coaching career, Hartline is perfectly content at Ohio State. It helps that Hartline spent his college career playing for the Buckeyes, so his devotion to Ohio State is deeper than many coaches. Having much of his and his wife’s family within a couple hours also helps to keep Hartline from looking at other coaching options.

While it’s impossible to say that Hartline is never going to leave Ohio State, it sound like it’s going to take quite the opportunity and offer to lure him away from Ohio State. Hartline loves coaching wide receivers since he used to play the position. If anything changes come in Hartline’s coaching career, they’ll likely be to continue up the coaching ladder at Ohio State and not at another school.

“I think any time you have one of the top four teams in the country playing it’s going to come down to keeping their playmakers from making plays — I mean it’s not rocket science, but it sure isn’t easy either.”

Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables via Zach Lentz, Sports Illustrated

Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables already has some experience slowing down Ohio State’s offense, beating the Buckeyes in the 2013 Orange Bowl and the 2016 Fiesta Bowl. The difference between those meetings and this year’s game, will be Venables hasn’t had to match wits with Ryan Day and Kevin Wilson.

Clemson defenders have some confidence heading into this matchup because they go up against quarterback Trevor Lawrence and running back Travis Etienne in practice every day, but battling Justin Fields and J.K. Dobbins on December 28th is going to be a whole different story. The 2016 Ohio State offense came into the Fiesta Bowl with a little more predictable offense, while this year’s Buckeye offense is a little more unpredictable.

Even though Venables said that stopping Ohio State’s offense isn’t “rocket science” doesn’t mean he doesn’t have respect for what the Buckeyes are capable of doing. The difference in the game will come down to which team has more success in establishing the line of scrimmage, which is likely a battle that Clemson won’t win as easily as in 2016.

“Every day, you have to go in and do your job. That’s how I’ve always gone about football. You have to go in and do your job. You go in and you help the team do whatever you can. You go in every day and have a great attitude, help the guys in front of you and everyone around you. That’s the main goal for us, help us win.”

Ohio State quarterback Gunnar Hoak via John Brice, Letterman Row

With Ohio State needing a boost to their quarterback depth heading into the season, the Buckeyes were able to add graduate transfer Gunnar Hoak from Kentucky. The Dublin native is part of a family that has donned the scarlet and gray in the past. Hoak’s father, Frank, played for the Buckeyes in the 1970s, as well as his uncle, Fred Pagac.

Hoak saw limited mop-up duty for Ohio State this season, appearing in five games, and completing all six passes he attempted. If Hoak sees any action in the College Football Playoff, either things went horribly wrong for Ohio State, or the Buckeyes played an amazing game that saw them build a huge lead.

Even though Hoak hasn’t seen the field very much, it doesn’t mean he hasn’t been an important part of Ohio State’s team this year. With the work Hoak has put in this year in practice, he has not only helped the team get better, but he has also set the table to stake his claim to the backup quarterback position next year behind Justin Fields. With Hoak growing as a player, as well as already knowing the system, expect his role to expand next season.

Ohio State men’s volleyball coach Pete Hanson closed out 35 years of coaching at Ohio State earlier this year, and now he has just been named the Division I-II men’s volleyball National Coach of the Decade. Hanson led Ohio State to their first national title in 2011, and followed that up with national championships in 2016 and 2017. Ohio State’s three national championships were the most of any men’s volleyball team during the decade.

Since 2010, Hanson posted a 216-85 record, notching at least 20 wins in seven seasons. From 2016-17, Ohio State won 42 consecutive matches, which was a MIVA record. Hanson received 37 votes from the voting committee, which was more votes than the other three candidates combined.

STICK TO SPORTS

• Order Chipotle delivery today in Columbus and it could be delivered by a former Ohio State quarterback.
• Six new spots to eat and drink have opened up around Central Ohio.
• A new exit ramp on I-70 East in downtown Columbus will open up on Friday.
• For those still playing Words With Friends or Draw Something, Zynga had a password breach that affected 170 million accounts.
• A new Jackass movie is coming in 2021.