As we kept shuffling our preferred power rankings for Florida's next head coach, one name we kept propping up was Ohio State OC Brian Hartline. While he doesn't have previous head coaching experience, he has been an undeniable force at Ohio State and is considered an elite recruiter.
And considering four of the current top five-ranked teams right now are led by a coach who was a Power Four coordinator at their previous stop (Ohio State, Georgia, Texas Tech, and Oregon), we felt this pathway had a higher upside to it.
Florida instead opted for Jon Sumrall out of Tulane. And even though Florida isn't going to see Hartline head-to-head on the field anytime soon, he is about to become a massive headache for the Gators.
Brian Hartline hired at USF
USF is slated to hire Hartline as its next head coach after the Bulls just lost Alex Goelsh to Auburn.
The move caught everyone off guard as Hartline was seen as a top candidate for Penn State's opening.
Florida doesn't have a scheduled meeting with USF as of now, and given how this year's game went, Florida is probably grateful for that,, but Hartline's recruiting abilities are going to be enough to still make the Gators take notice.
USF won't have the NIL money to land a five-star guy like Jeremiah Smith, but if there is a wide receiver ranked around 150-250 overall that Florida likes, don't rule out Hartline trying to squeeze his way into the picture. USF has signed just one four-star prospect since 2019, but with an improving school profile and a recruiting ace at the helm, that could change.
And given how difficult Hartline made life for Florida to land guys like Smith when he was over 1,000 miles away in Ohio, one at least has to take notice now that he is about to set up shop about a two-hour drive south of Gainesville.