It’s Monday. And it’s officially the offseason for Ohio State football.
While the Buckeyes begin their preparation for 2022 and the Ohio State basketball team in the full swing of Big Ten play, here’s what I’m thinking about this week.
How important is Brian Hartline to Ohio State?
Brian Hartline got a promotion Sunday afternoon, adding passing game coordinator to his job title along with remaining as Ohio State's wide receivers coach.
If you have seen the Ohio State offense play in 2021, you understand why: the continued success of the passing game, the continued development of wide receivers, rotating in and out of the starting position while not losing steam for the overall offense, the continued recruitment of top-tier wide receivers and turning them into first-round weapons.
It was clear just based on the Rose Bowl alone. In a game without Garrett Wilson or Chris Olave, Ohio State’s wide receiver room still helped C.J. Stroud and the rest of the offense look like the best in the country, whether it was through Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s record-breaking day or Marvin Harrison Jr.’s emergence as a potential star.
Hartline helped make sure that Ohio State’s pass offense was set no matter who they lost from year to year. All head coach Ryan Day seems to be doing is to make sure that remains long-term, not allowing him to use those development skills anywhere else.
Hartline made it clear that he didn’t want to be anywhere else, saying in a November press conference that he considered Ohio State to be home and that he considered those wide receivers he’s developing to be family.
For Day, that has to be music to his ears.
Building off the offense that Day initiated when he joined Urban Meyer’s staff in 2017 as a co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Hartline has been a part of the Buckeyes’ offensive surge, starting as a quality control coach with Day in 2017, becoming interim wide receivers coach in 2018 before taking over the role full-time in 2019.
Really without Hartline, Ohio State’s offense wouldn’t be where it is now: housing three All-Americans in his room in Smith-Njigba (second-team), Wilson and Olave (first-teams).
The promotion signifies Hartline is vital to Ohio State’s offense. That’s clear to everybody involved. However, it also signifies that he’s one of, if not the most vital member to Ohio State’s coaching staff as a whole.
With Hartline at the helm of one of the most explosive and consistent wide receiver rooms in recent memory, Ohio State’s offense has the chance to continue to be one of the main offensive leaders in the sport, leading to more first-round receivers at the next level, leading to more All-Americans playing in Ohio Stadium and leading to more high-profile wide receivers choosing Ohio State to make that development happen.
And Hartline really plays a huge part of it.
Really, there isn't a wide receivers coach that could have pulled the recruiting classes Hartline’s pulled.
This is well-documented, sure, but in the context of Hartline’s promotion and the national championship happening Monday night, it’s easy to lose sight of what Hartline has been able to do in his four recruiting classes with Ohio State.
2019: four-star Garrett Wilson, four-star Jameson WIlliams: both first-round-bound wide receivers, both stars in their own right, even though Williams didn’t find his stardom in Columbus.
2020: five-star Jaxon Smith-Njigba, five-star Julian Fleming — two of the top four receivers in the class — along with four-star Gee Scott Jr., who moved to tight end.
2021: five-star Emeka Egbuka — the No. 1 receiver in the closs — four-star Jayden Ballard and four-star Marvin Harrison Jr.
2022: Four-star Caleb Burton, four-star Kyion Grayes, four-star Kaleb Brown and four-star Kojo Antwi: four receivers in the top-30 of the 2022 recruiting class, even with a young room already at his disposal in Columbus.
Really, it’s all about development, kind of like what Day is trying to do with quarterbacks. But unlike the quarterback position, Hartline has developed a way for more than one receiver to shine at any one time, something that’s incredibly sellable in the world of recruiting.
It’s not something that looks to slow down either.
Ohio State has already offered nine different receivers in the 2023 class, including No. 1-ranked receiver and former Oklahoma commit Brandon Inniss — a player 2023 four-star ATH Cedrick Hawkins is trying to pitch to Ohio State — and four-star Carnell Tate, who seems to be leaning toward Ohio State.
It’s a room that’s going to remain full as long as Hartline remains at the helm.
What will this NIL fund do for Ohio State?
Ever since I saw this tweet, I’ve been thinking about what it could mean.
The message is simple: a charitable NIL fund has been started by Brian Schottenstein, the president of the Schottenstein Real Estate Group, for Ohio State students, and former Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones is going to help him run it. It’s also set to start on the day of the Spring Game.
We are going to create the biggest NIL charitable fund in the country and this will also be fan based, so anybody can contribute to the student athletes, who will help out local charities,” Schottenstein wrote in a tweet.
Does this mean Ohio State players that receive money out of this fund are going to donate it all to local charities? That’s not clear.
Is the money donated to this fund going directly into the pockets of players to use at their discretion? That’s not clear.
Will this start something that could be a benefit for recruiting athletes to come to Ohio State for any sport, but especially football and men’s basketball, putting them on a level of Texas A&M and what its alumni base has helped cultivate for the 2022 recruiting class? No idea.
It’s a step though, a step to knowing more about what NIL is, what its effect is on athletes and how the general public can play a role in it other than seeing the occasional car commercial on TV or a billboard with an Ohio State player on it.
This is the start of something, even if we really don’t know what it will do.
Let’s talk early enrollees for a second
Ohio State’s 2022 recruiting class is starting to trickle into Columbus.
Four-star safety Kye Stokes and four-star cornerback Ryan Turner were the first to announce their arrival on Twitter, while Ohio State Football’s Twitter account has shown four-star wide receiver Caleb Burton, four-star quarterback Devin Brown and three-star tight end Bennett Christian arriving for the first time.
However, Ohio State’s most important early enrollee has not been shown yet.
Back in December when I attended his commitment ceremony, four-star defensive end Caden Curry told me he would be skipping his spring semester of his senior year of high school and enrolling at Ohio State in the spring.
Mickey Marotti, Ohio State’s assistant athletic director for football sports performance, has shown in the past what he can do with a player in a short amount of time in his weight room. Defensive line coach Larry Johnson has shown in the past how his development process starts from the moment a defensive lineman steps into the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
With that, combined with his dominant performances during practices and during the All-American game itself, Curry could put himself in a place for legitimate playing time in the fall. Whether it’s at end or at tackle, he has the body to be molded into both, something that could be valuable in terms of versatility.
But he seems ready for the next level right now. Just wait to see what he will look like once Marotti and Johnson get their hands on him during the spring semester.
I’ll give you another early enrollee to watch too.
Bennett Christian.
I’ve talked about this before, but it just has to do with the need at the position.
If I were a betting man, I think Cade Stover is moving to linebacker, especially after the emotion and the level of comfort he showed at the position in the Rose Bowl. That would leave Gee Scott Jr. and, possibly, Mitch Rossi as the main two options for Kevin Wilson coming into 2022.
Ohio State also has Joe Royer and Sam Hart, both of whom are relatively unproven at the position. Right now, if Ohio State’s going to have a passing threat at the position, the duties are likely to fall to Scott, a former four-star receiver himself.
However, if they need a blocker, someone to fill in senior Jeremy Ruckert’s shoes as a blocker, Christian seems like a great option.
He already has the body type for it and it’s something he did primarily for a run-first offense in high school. Now, like Curry, he will have a spring semester to work with Marotti and WIlson to get bigger, to learn the college life and the college game to get those opportunities come fall.
Alright, let’s talk through this Ohio State men’s basketball game.
Ohio State couldn’t be stopped from 3.
Northwestern was giving the Buckeyes plenty of open looks through miscommunications off ball screens. I asked Northwestern head coach Chris Collins specifically about this and he said Ohio State was just giving them issues, making them confused down low and always finding a way to have an open man on the outside to kick out to.
Now, after every one of these kind of games, there’s something that needs to be said: these are not consistent wins.
Ohio State is not able to shoot 44% from the 3-point line every game. However, as acting head coach Jake Diebler said, Ohio State is not going to shoot 44% from the 3-point line every game and have senior forward and one of the best 3-point shooters on the team in Justin Ahrens miss each of his five attempts from deep.
This is exactly the kind of game Ohio State needed.
It struggled mightily against Indiana in developing any semblance of an offense, something not many defenses have been successful at doing in the past two years.
Now, after a 95-point performance at home, the Buckeyes have their confidence back, especially in E.J. Liddell, who could not miss Sunday evening.
His offensive aggressiveness was electric, leading to electricity in his defense, his chase-down blocks, leading to electricity for the rest of the offense: open 3-point looks for freshman guard Meechie Johnson Jr. or redshirt senior Cedric Russell.
This is by no means shocking to anyone at all, but this team is better when Liddell is on. And that’s what showed up Sunday against Northwestern.
Quick observations from Ohio State’s latest win
Justin Ahrens has been struggling.
Like really struggling.
Like four makes on his last 19 shot attempts through the last four games struggling.
The senior forward will get back to his shooting form at some point. It’s January in a season that will be decided in late February and early March.
However, until he develops some consistency, why not make him the first guy off the bench? He can find that fire from 3, develop a bit of a rhythm in a different spot for him, something he may not be used to that he could carry over into the games when it matters more.
So who would fill in?
Let’s bring Zed Key and Kyle Young into the lineup with Malaki Branham, E.J. Liddell and Jamari Wheeler. Young’s enough of a post presence, but also provides that stretch ability and versatility that he brings off the bench.
Really, in a Chris Holtmann offense, the “starting lineup” itself doesn’t matter much. Ohio State has seven players that average more than 20 minutes per game.
But maybe some variety in the next few games could mix some things up and provide a boost and a charge for this team.
National championship prediction
No one cares about my opinion for this game, but I’m going to give it to you anyway.
Simply put, you can’t doubt Nick Saban. It’s physically impossible.
This team is playing its best football now, and with the Heisman winner and one of the best wide receivers in football, the Crimson Tide can’t be counted out.
Georgia is a very good football team and has one of the best defenses in recent memory. But I’m taking Alabama
Alabama -1
Song of the Week
I watched this video again recently, and I’m convinced it’s one of the best live performances out there of any song.
It makes me smile every single time I watch it. I can’t wait to see this band in February.
See you on the board
While the Buckeyes begin their preparation for 2022 and the Ohio State basketball team in the full swing of Big Ten play, here’s what I’m thinking about this week.
How important is Brian Hartline to Ohio State?
Brian Hartline got a promotion Sunday afternoon, adding passing game coordinator to his job title along with remaining as Ohio State's wide receivers coach.
If you have seen the Ohio State offense play in 2021, you understand why: the continued success of the passing game, the continued development of wide receivers, rotating in and out of the starting position while not losing steam for the overall offense, the continued recruitment of top-tier wide receivers and turning them into first-round weapons.
It was clear just based on the Rose Bowl alone. In a game without Garrett Wilson or Chris Olave, Ohio State’s wide receiver room still helped C.J. Stroud and the rest of the offense look like the best in the country, whether it was through Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s record-breaking day or Marvin Harrison Jr.’s emergence as a potential star.
Hartline helped make sure that Ohio State’s pass offense was set no matter who they lost from year to year. All head coach Ryan Day seems to be doing is to make sure that remains long-term, not allowing him to use those development skills anywhere else.
Hartline made it clear that he didn’t want to be anywhere else, saying in a November press conference that he considered Ohio State to be home and that he considered those wide receivers he’s developing to be family.
For Day, that has to be music to his ears.
Building off the offense that Day initiated when he joined Urban Meyer’s staff in 2017 as a co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Hartline has been a part of the Buckeyes’ offensive surge, starting as a quality control coach with Day in 2017, becoming interim wide receivers coach in 2018 before taking over the role full-time in 2019.
Really without Hartline, Ohio State’s offense wouldn’t be where it is now: housing three All-Americans in his room in Smith-Njigba (second-team), Wilson and Olave (first-teams).
The promotion signifies Hartline is vital to Ohio State’s offense. That’s clear to everybody involved. However, it also signifies that he’s one of, if not the most vital member to Ohio State’s coaching staff as a whole.
With Hartline at the helm of one of the most explosive and consistent wide receiver rooms in recent memory, Ohio State’s offense has the chance to continue to be one of the main offensive leaders in the sport, leading to more first-round receivers at the next level, leading to more All-Americans playing in Ohio Stadium and leading to more high-profile wide receivers choosing Ohio State to make that development happen.
And Hartline really plays a huge part of it.
Really, there isn't a wide receivers coach that could have pulled the recruiting classes Hartline’s pulled.
This is well-documented, sure, but in the context of Hartline’s promotion and the national championship happening Monday night, it’s easy to lose sight of what Hartline has been able to do in his four recruiting classes with Ohio State.
2019: four-star Garrett Wilson, four-star Jameson WIlliams: both first-round-bound wide receivers, both stars in their own right, even though Williams didn’t find his stardom in Columbus.
2020: five-star Jaxon Smith-Njigba, five-star Julian Fleming — two of the top four receivers in the class — along with four-star Gee Scott Jr., who moved to tight end.
2021: five-star Emeka Egbuka — the No. 1 receiver in the closs — four-star Jayden Ballard and four-star Marvin Harrison Jr.
2022: Four-star Caleb Burton, four-star Kyion Grayes, four-star Kaleb Brown and four-star Kojo Antwi: four receivers in the top-30 of the 2022 recruiting class, even with a young room already at his disposal in Columbus.
Really, it’s all about development, kind of like what Day is trying to do with quarterbacks. But unlike the quarterback position, Hartline has developed a way for more than one receiver to shine at any one time, something that’s incredibly sellable in the world of recruiting.
It’s not something that looks to slow down either.
Ohio State has already offered nine different receivers in the 2023 class, including No. 1-ranked receiver and former Oklahoma commit Brandon Inniss — a player 2023 four-star ATH Cedrick Hawkins is trying to pitch to Ohio State — and four-star Carnell Tate, who seems to be leaning toward Ohio State.
It’s a room that’s going to remain full as long as Hartline remains at the helm.
What will this NIL fund do for Ohio State?
Ever since I saw this tweet, I’ve been thinking about what it could mean.
The message is simple: a charitable NIL fund has been started by Brian Schottenstein, the president of the Schottenstein Real Estate Group, for Ohio State students, and former Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones is going to help him run it. It’s also set to start on the day of the Spring Game.
We are going to create the biggest NIL charitable fund in the country and this will also be fan based, so anybody can contribute to the student athletes, who will help out local charities,” Schottenstein wrote in a tweet.
Does this mean Ohio State players that receive money out of this fund are going to donate it all to local charities? That’s not clear.
Is the money donated to this fund going directly into the pockets of players to use at their discretion? That’s not clear.
Will this start something that could be a benefit for recruiting athletes to come to Ohio State for any sport, but especially football and men’s basketball, putting them on a level of Texas A&M and what its alumni base has helped cultivate for the 2022 recruiting class? No idea.
It’s a step though, a step to knowing more about what NIL is, what its effect is on athletes and how the general public can play a role in it other than seeing the occasional car commercial on TV or a billboard with an Ohio State player on it.
This is the start of something, even if we really don’t know what it will do.
Let’s talk early enrollees for a second
Ohio State’s 2022 recruiting class is starting to trickle into Columbus.
Four-star safety Kye Stokes and four-star cornerback Ryan Turner were the first to announce their arrival on Twitter, while Ohio State Football’s Twitter account has shown four-star wide receiver Caleb Burton, four-star quarterback Devin Brown and three-star tight end Bennett Christian arriving for the first time.
However, Ohio State’s most important early enrollee has not been shown yet.
Back in December when I attended his commitment ceremony, four-star defensive end Caden Curry told me he would be skipping his spring semester of his senior year of high school and enrolling at Ohio State in the spring.
Mickey Marotti, Ohio State’s assistant athletic director for football sports performance, has shown in the past what he can do with a player in a short amount of time in his weight room. Defensive line coach Larry Johnson has shown in the past how his development process starts from the moment a defensive lineman steps into the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
With that, combined with his dominant performances during practices and during the All-American game itself, Curry could put himself in a place for legitimate playing time in the fall. Whether it’s at end or at tackle, he has the body to be molded into both, something that could be valuable in terms of versatility.
But he seems ready for the next level right now. Just wait to see what he will look like once Marotti and Johnson get their hands on him during the spring semester.
I’ll give you another early enrollee to watch too.
Bennett Christian.
I’ve talked about this before, but it just has to do with the need at the position.
If I were a betting man, I think Cade Stover is moving to linebacker, especially after the emotion and the level of comfort he showed at the position in the Rose Bowl. That would leave Gee Scott Jr. and, possibly, Mitch Rossi as the main two options for Kevin Wilson coming into 2022.
Ohio State also has Joe Royer and Sam Hart, both of whom are relatively unproven at the position. Right now, if Ohio State’s going to have a passing threat at the position, the duties are likely to fall to Scott, a former four-star receiver himself.
However, if they need a blocker, someone to fill in senior Jeremy Ruckert’s shoes as a blocker, Christian seems like a great option.
He already has the body type for it and it’s something he did primarily for a run-first offense in high school. Now, like Curry, he will have a spring semester to work with Marotti and WIlson to get bigger, to learn the college life and the college game to get those opportunities come fall.
Alright, let’s talk through this Ohio State men’s basketball game.
Ohio State couldn’t be stopped from 3.
Northwestern was giving the Buckeyes plenty of open looks through miscommunications off ball screens. I asked Northwestern head coach Chris Collins specifically about this and he said Ohio State was just giving them issues, making them confused down low and always finding a way to have an open man on the outside to kick out to.
Now, after every one of these kind of games, there’s something that needs to be said: these are not consistent wins.
Ohio State is not able to shoot 44% from the 3-point line every game. However, as acting head coach Jake Diebler said, Ohio State is not going to shoot 44% from the 3-point line every game and have senior forward and one of the best 3-point shooters on the team in Justin Ahrens miss each of his five attempts from deep.
This is exactly the kind of game Ohio State needed.
It struggled mightily against Indiana in developing any semblance of an offense, something not many defenses have been successful at doing in the past two years.
Now, after a 95-point performance at home, the Buckeyes have their confidence back, especially in E.J. Liddell, who could not miss Sunday evening.
His offensive aggressiveness was electric, leading to electricity in his defense, his chase-down blocks, leading to electricity for the rest of the offense: open 3-point looks for freshman guard Meechie Johnson Jr. or redshirt senior Cedric Russell.
This is by no means shocking to anyone at all, but this team is better when Liddell is on. And that’s what showed up Sunday against Northwestern.
Quick observations from Ohio State’s latest win
- Jamari Wheeler is as aggressive of a player I have seen that’s not a scorer. He’s a ferocious defender and gets into the paint for rebounds. He’s fearless and puts himself into every situation except scoring on a nightly basis. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: he’s going to be vital for Ohio State come tournament time.
- However, if Wheeler is going to be Ohio State’s leading rebounder each night, Ohio State’s going to be in trouble. The Buckeyes needed more aggressiveness and tenacity from players like Kyle Young and Zed Key from the paint, something that didn’t really happen against Northwestern, but both of whom have shown the ability to do.
- Cedric Russell is going to hit a big 3 for Ohio State this season. Bet on it.
- Ohio State will need to find a way to have that offensive barrage, but not allow 87 points.
- Ohio State will need to find a way to win games without opponents staying in games until the end of the second half.
- Ohio State will win a lot of games if Liddell and Branham combine for 58 points.
- However, no other player scored in double-digits, which could be worrisome if that trend continues.
- We at Scarlet and Gray Report — meaning me, as the one who writes these columns and covers Ohio State basketball — continue to ride the Malaki Branham hype train. This kid is getting comfortable, and it will be exciting to see if he can develop into the secondary scorer Liddell and Ohio State needs moving forward.
Justin Ahrens has been struggling.
Like really struggling.
Like four makes on his last 19 shot attempts through the last four games struggling.
The senior forward will get back to his shooting form at some point. It’s January in a season that will be decided in late February and early March.
However, until he develops some consistency, why not make him the first guy off the bench? He can find that fire from 3, develop a bit of a rhythm in a different spot for him, something he may not be used to that he could carry over into the games when it matters more.
So who would fill in?
Let’s bring Zed Key and Kyle Young into the lineup with Malaki Branham, E.J. Liddell and Jamari Wheeler. Young’s enough of a post presence, but also provides that stretch ability and versatility that he brings off the bench.
Really, in a Chris Holtmann offense, the “starting lineup” itself doesn’t matter much. Ohio State has seven players that average more than 20 minutes per game.
But maybe some variety in the next few games could mix some things up and provide a boost and a charge for this team.
National championship prediction
No one cares about my opinion for this game, but I’m going to give it to you anyway.
Simply put, you can’t doubt Nick Saban. It’s physically impossible.
This team is playing its best football now, and with the Heisman winner and one of the best wide receivers in football, the Crimson Tide can’t be counted out.
Georgia is a very good football team and has one of the best defenses in recent memory. But I’m taking Alabama
Alabama -1
Song of the Week
I watched this video again recently, and I’m convinced it’s one of the best live performances out there of any song.
It makes me smile every single time I watch it. I can’t wait to see this band in February.
See you on the board
