Who’s Next? Ohio State’s Wide Receivers Coach Opening for 2026

Brian Hartline is officially gone. On December 3, 2025, the guy who turned Ohio State’s wide receiver room into “Wide Receiver U” took the head coaching job at South Florida. He’ll coach the Buckeyes through the playoff, then head to Tampa. That leaves Ryan Day with one of the most important hires he’ll make this cycle: who coaches the best wide receiver room in college football starting in 2026?

The Clear Front-Runner: Devin Jordan

If you’ve paid any attention to Ohio State recruiting the last three years, you already know Devin Jordan’s name. The former Buckeye wideout (2008–11) came back to Columbus in 2022 as director of player development and recruiting, basically Hartline’s right-hand man in the WR room every single day.

Before that, Jordan spent four years (2018–21) as the actual wide receivers coach at Bowling Green and did a really solid job — guys like Davon Spencer and Quintin Morris put up big numbers under him. At 34 years old, he’s young, energetic, relates to players ridiculously well, and — maybe most importantly — he’s already one of the best recruiters in the Midwest. Current commits and targets call him “big bro.”

Everything Ryan Day has done the last two off-seasons screams internal promotion. He moved Hartline up to OC, kept Keenan Bailey in-house, promoted from within on defense multiple times. Promoting Jordan would be the easiest, smoothest transition imaginable. Most people around the program expect it to happen within the next week or two.

The Other Realistic Names

Keenan Bailey

Current co-OC and tight ends coach. Bailey is super well-liked and has been at Ohio State forever (analyst → TE coach → co-OC). A promotion to WR coach would let Day keep his offensive structure intact, but it would mean moving him off tight ends, which feels awkward. Possible, but not the favorite.

Santonio Holmes

The 2006 Buckeye legend is currently the wide receivers coach at South Carolina State. He’s expressed interest in coming home, and the players would lose their minds. Cool story, huge name, but Day almost never goes the “splashy external alum” route for assistant jobs. Feels more like a feel-good long shot.

The Chip Kelly Wild Card

Chip got fired by the Raiders in November and still has a house in Columbus. There’s real chatter he could come back in some kind of senior offensive assistant/WR coach hybrid role, especially if Day wants an experienced voice while a younger guy (Jordan) learns on the job. It’s not the most likely outcome, but it’s absolutely on the table.

Bottom Line

Unless something dramatic changes in the next few days, bet on Devin Jordan. He’s been training for this exact moment for four years, the players already trust him, and the 2026 recruiting class (Landon Dowden, Quincy Porter, etc.) is comfortable with him running the room.

Ryan Day loves continuity, and promoting Jordan is the definition of continuity. Expect the announcement sometime between the playoff rounds — probably with the simple title “wide receivers coach” and a quiet two-year deal to keep him from getting poached.

Ohio State’s wide receiver factory isn’t slowing down. It’s just getting a new foreman who already knows where all the tools are.