CJ Stroud’s Priceless Reaction to Brian Hartline’s Jump to USF Says it All
December 4, 2025
Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline was named the new head coach at USF this week. A move that has clearly been well earned from his accomplishments as he’s played a major part in the development of legendary Buckeye receivers like Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, JSN, Marvin Harrison Jr, Emeka Egbuka and current stars Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith.
Hartline himself was an Ohio State great as a part of their 2008 National Championship team. He’d go on to become a 4th round draft pick and play several seasons in the NFL amassing 344 receptions for 4,766 and 14 scores over his career.
Former Buckeye and current Texans’ quarterback CJ Stroud was asked about what he thought about the move in his press conference this week and was completely taken off guard at first in a hilarious way as he was unaware of the change and responded with “Oh. dope. Oh, congrats. I didn’t know that. That’s cool!”
Stroud went on to speak about Hartline as a coach, stating “Hart is someone that played the position, played at a high level, played in the league and knows how to relate to everybody.” Stroud added, “He (Hartline) doesn’t fake who he is. He’s going to be who he is through everything. He’s one of the main reasons that I went to Ohio State. He recruits at a very high level and knows what to say and how to say it, and was always honest.”
The University of Southern Florida no doubt got a good one to take over the program. They’ll become one of the more interesting teams to follow heading into next season. Brian Hartline turned Ohio State into an NFL producing wide receiver factory and it’ll be fun to watch what he does in the next chapter.
Keith, Author
Keith runs youth flag football leagues by day, and by night he hosts the podcast and writes articles with the confidence of a man who’s been rushing quarterbacks since dial-up. A longtime flag football DE and lifelong Falcons fan, he’s no stranger to heartbreak and enjoys watching the bears get slaughtered each week. Equal parts coach, critic, and chaos, Keith calls it like he sees it… even if it hurts.
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