Will the departures of Ohio State receivers push Brian Hartline to deploy a tool he’s never used before?
|Only one Ohio State football position coach has never used the transfer portal to bolster his team.
Last week, Brian Hartline spoke with pride about how relationships developed through traditional high school recruitment had maintained the room loaded in both high-end quality and depth.
“I have nothing against the transfer world — there are a lot of reasons to do it, have it, and use it,” Hartline said last week, before of the Cotton Bowl. “However, we have yet to accomplish this in the receiver room, which is a goal.” The idea is to identify high school young men who suit our mold.
“And we choose them as they choose us.” Then you see those players on Saturdays. “I think we’re very proud of the progress we’ve made in our room.”
Hartline made those remarks less than a week before losing his fourth and fifth receivers in the last eight months to free agency. On Sunday, Bryson Rodgers and Noah Rogers both stated their desire to pursue a transfer. They follow receivers Kaleb Brown, Caleb Burton, and Julian Fleming in leaving the program since April.