Key Highlights
- 3, along with other benefits and performance incentives. It stands to make the 39-year-old Hartline one of the highest-paid coaches outside the Power Four conferences.
- According to USA TODAY Sports' salary database, only Liberty's Jamey Chadwell was to have made more among Group of Six coaches last year. Dublin Scioto graduate Alex Golesh, who previously at the helm of USF before leaving for Auburn at the end of the regular season, received $2.5 million in compensation in 2025. Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline speaks to the meeting during a press conference before the start of spring football at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on March 7, 2025. South Florida was also to pay Hartline $150,000 for his work last month, a span of four weeks in which he pulled double duty between two schools.
- He began hiring his coaching staff and working on roster retention for USF while he remained with Ohio State for the College Football Playoff. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Buckeyes’ season ended with a loss to Miami in the quarterfinals on Dec.
- 31, marking the end of Hartline’s near decade-long tenure on staff. Hartline, who took over as the primary coordinator in addition to wide receivers coach in his last year with the Buckeyes, was owed a base salary of $2 million in 2025. His compensation at Ohio State last season also included bonus pay of $560,000, an amount worth 28% of his base salary following the Buckeyes’ appearance in the Big Ten championship game and quarterfinal round of the playoff.
- Hartline had continued to remain eligible for the postseason incentives with Ohio State after taking the job at USF. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementJoey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch.