One of Ohio State’s top safeties will continue his football career at another school.
Malik Hartford entered the transfer portal on Friday. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound safety is the 25th scholarship Buckeye to enter the portal since it opened on Jan. 2.
Ohio State safety Malik Hartford has entered the transfer portal, @mzenitz and I have learned for @CBSSports.
— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) January 9, 2026
Hartford was a top 70 recruit and the No. 5 safety in the 2023 class. Has posted 20 tackles and 3 PDs in his career. https://t.co/Ycv2m0d2P7 pic.twitter.com/O24YB5JoFy
Hartford was a four-star recruit and the No. 161 overall prospect in the 2023 class. He started in two games as a freshman in 2023 and recorded 10 tackles and two pass breakups across nine appearances. Hartford may have been Ohio State’s starting free safety in 2024 had Caleb Downs not transferred from Alabama to become a two-time All-American for the Buckeyes. Instead, Hartford appeared in 14 of 15 games, recording eight tackles and one pass breakup.
In 2025, Hartford joined C.J. Hicks as contributors to redshirt the rest of the regular season after appearing in four games. After deciding to redshirt, Hartford underwent shoulder surgery, telling Eleven Warriors before the Cotton Bowl that there were “some things that I needed cleaned up.”
Hartford is the fourth Ohio State scholarship defensive back to enter the transfer portal, joining cornerbacks Bryce West and Aaron Scott Jr. and safety Keenan Nelson Jr. West signed with Luke Fickell and Wisconsin on Tuesday, while Scott is still exploring his options, one of them being the Badgers.
With Hartford in the portal, Ohio State is expected to have five safeties return in 2026: junior Jaylen McClain, redshirt sophomore Leroy Roker and sophomore Faheem Delane and redshirt freshmen Deshawn Stewart and Cody Haddad. The Buckeyes are also adding four incoming freshmen at the position: four-star prospects Blaine Bradford, Simeon Caldwell and Khmari Bing, as well as three-star Kaden Gebhardt.
