When Chip Kelly left Ohio State after last season to become the offensive coordinator of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, OSU promoted Brian Hartline to replace Kelly.
Now that Hartline will leave Ohio State after this season to become the head coach at South Florida, Kelly could be a leading candidate to replace Hartline.
The speculation that Kelly could return to the Buckeyes started even before it was known that Hartline would be leaving Ohio State after this season. As soon as the Raiders fired Kelly last week, there was reason to wonder if Kelly could rejoin his close friend Ryan Day’s staff, even if only as a consultant for the rest of the year.
Asked about that possibility last week, Day said he hadn’t discussed that possibility with Kelly – the Buckeyes were in the throes of preparing to play Michigan, after all – and indicated that there were no immediate plans to add to the staff.
“I would say I’m not thinking about that right now,” Day said. “Just too much going on. I do think right now, we have great chemistry … So that's not something I’ve thought about. And right now we're going to stick with what we got.”
Now that Ohio State’s offensive coordinator job has opened up once again, however, Day has good reason to gauge Kelly’s interest in a return. They already proved last season that they can win a national championship leading Ohio State’s offense together, and it’s hard to envision any other job being a better fit for Kelly – or any other candidate being more qualified to lead the offense.
He’s unlikely to draw interest for any NFL jobs with how poorly his tenure in Las Vegas went, but that shouldn’t deter Ohio State from bringing him back; just look at how well Matt Patricia has done at Ohio State this season despite lackluster results in his last few NFL jobs. Kelly’s also unlikely to get a head coaching job – if he even wants one – after leaving UCLA’s head coaching job to be Ohio State’s offensive coordinator in 2024, so a collegiate offensive coordinator job is his likely next step if he wants to coach in 2026. There’d be no better place for him to do so than in Columbus, where he’d reunite with Day and inherit an offense that will return most of its starters next season, including potential Heisman Trophy winner Julian Sayin and superstar receiver Jeremiah Smith.
That said, Kelly certainly won’t be the only option Day has to replace Hartline.
Day could choose to promote from within again and hand the keys to Keenan Bailey. Already promoted to co-offensive coordinator this past season, Bailey has been a valued member of Day’s staff from the beginning, working his way up from an offensive intern under Urban Meyer to his current role as tight ends coach and co-OC. He’s played a key role in game planning behind the scenes for years, while he’s also played a major role in Ohio State’s offensive recruiting efforts.
Even if Day brings in Kelly or someone else from outside the program to run the offense, Bailey could still see his role expand in the wake of Hartline’s departure. He spent several years working alongside Hartline in the receiver room before becoming Ohio State’s tight ends coach, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Buckeyes had him take over that room from Hartline, especially considering the close relationships he’s built with Ohio State receivers like Smith, Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss dating back to their days as recruits.
Another internal option to replace Hartline as wide receivers coach could be Devin Jordan, who’s been the Buckeyes’ assistant wide receivers coach since Bailey became tight ends coach. A former Ohio State wide receiver himself, like Hartline, Jordan has been with the Buckeyes since 2022 and is highly regarded by Buckeye coaches and players.
Of course, Ohio State’s offensive coordinator and wide receiver coach vacancies will also draw no shortage of interest from coaches throughout the country. With Sayin and Smith back to lead the offense for another year in 2026, there won’t be a more desirable OC or WR coach job anywhere in college football, and those jobs could even draw interest from current NFL assistants.
“I think we would all agree right now that Coach Day probably has about 50 missed phone calls from every wide receivers coach in the country who would love to come join here,” Ohio State general manager Mark Pantoni said Wednesday. “So it's obviously very appealing. Obviously, Coach Day's going to go out and get the best person possible.”
While it’s purely speculative who could be candidates to fill one or both of those roles right now, especially since Ohio State’s primary focus for the rest of this week is on beating Indiana in the Big Ten Championship Game, some names that could theoretically make sense:
Offensive Coordinator
- Akron head coach Joe Moorhead was one of college football’s top offensive coordinators at Penn State and Oregon before becoming Akron’s head coach in 2022. He had his best season so far with the Zips in 2025, leading them to a 5-7 season, but the opportunity to compete for national championships at Ohio State could be tempting, while his offensive expertise and Midwest roots would make him a qualified choice to lead the offense.
- Toledo head coach Jason Candle was linked to Ohio State’s offensive coordinator vacancy in 2024 before the Buckeyes initially hired Bill O’Brien, then Kelly. There’s been no indication that Candle is looking to leave Toledo for an offensive coordinator job, but his track record as an offensive coach and recruiter at Toledo would make him an intriguing hire.
- Speaking of Bill O’Brien, Boston College recently committed to keeping him as head coach for the 2026 season, but he’s certainly under pressure to perform after a 2-10 campaign this year. If Day offered O’Brien another opportunity to be Ohio State’s offensive coordinator – and coach Sayin, a quarterback he once recruited to play for him at Alabama – would he be tempted to leave BC for a more secure job? This is probably a long shot, but the fact that Day already hired him to run the offense once before he was hired by BC shows Day’s respect for his offensive intellect.
- Ohio State will get an up-close look at one of college football’s best offensive coordinators this week as it goes head-to-head with Indiana OC and WR coach Mike Shanahan, whose offense leads all Power 4 teams with 44.3 points per game this season. He’s worked with Curt Cignetti since 2016, so he might be inclined to stay in Bloomington until he gets a head coaching job, but his proven track record as both an OC and wide receivers coach at Indiana would make him a good candidate to call.
Wide Receivers Coach
- Tennessee wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope is the second-highest-ranked recruiter for the 2026 cycle among all assistant coaches, per 247Sports, and his unit has been one of the nation’s best this season with three wideouts over 770 yards for the year. With recruiting chops at a premium for Hartline’s replacement, Pope – who, like Hartline, is a former NFL receiver – would be an obvious target to replace Hartline as WR coach.
- USC’s Dennis Simmons has long been regarded as one of the top wide receivers coaches in college football, developing the likes of Michael Crabtree at Texas Tech, CeeDee Lamb and Dede Westbrook at Oklahoma and Jordan Addison and Makai Lemon at USC. Pulling away from USC would likely be tough, as he’s worked alongside Lincoln Riley since 2015, but he’d be as qualified as anyone for the job.
- Jerry Neuheisel was Kelly’s wide receivers coach at UCLA from 2021-23, and he became well-known nationally this season for the Bruins’ improvement after he took over their offense midseason. It’s unlikely he’ll be Ohio State’s new offensive coordinator given the Bruins’ struggles down the stretch, but he could be a promising candidate to coach receivers as UCLA brings in a new offensive staff, particularly if Ohio State hires Kelly as offensive coordinator and Bailey gets an OC opportunity elsewhere.
- If Ohio State wanted to replace Hartline with another former Buckeye, Kenny Guiton could be an option, as he was the wide receivers coach at Wisconsin, Arkansas, Colorado State and Houston before becoming the Badgers’ quarterbacks coach this year. Given that Wisconsin had one of the worst passing offenses in the country this year, though, the timing might not be right for Guiton to return to Ohio State as a full-time assistant coach.
