Former LSU, Georgia assistant to replace Brian Hartline at Ohio State, per report
By Jacob Moss
Published:
The Ohio State Buckeyes’ season came to an end on New Year’s Eve with a 24-14 loss to the Miami Hurricanes in the Cotton Bowl, a loss that also marked the end of Brian Hartline’s tenure in Columbus as well.
The longtime wide receivers coach for the Buckeyes will be heading south to take over the South Florida Bulls as their new head coach, meaning that Ryan Day is in the market for a new coach to lead his stacked receiving core.
It appears as though Day has already found his guy to replace Hartline, though, with Bruce Feldman of The Athletic reporting on Thursday that Day is expected to bring on former LSU and Georgia assistant Cortez Hankton to fill Hartline’s spot on his staff.
A former NFL and UFL receiver, Hankton has been coaching up pass catchers at the SEC level for the past 10 years, making stops at Vanderbilt, Georgia, and, most recently, LSU.
Hankton was the wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator under Kirby Smart at Georgia from 2018-2021, and he filled the same roles with the Bayou Bengals from 2022-2025, coaching names like George Pickens, Brian Thomas Jr., and Kayshon Boutte during that span.
Now, he’ll be tasked with heading up one of the most stacked wide receiver groups in the entire country with the Buckeyes as they look to be in the hunt for the CFP National Championship once again in 2026.
