TAMPA, Fla. – In filling out his staff as a first-time head coach, Brian Hartline wanted a quarterback coach who played the position. Mike Hartline did just that at Kentucky where he started 26 games (2006-10) and threw for 5,680 yards and 38 touchdowns under Joker Phillips and Rich Brooks.
Though having his sibling on board is nice, it is the synergy in working with USF’s quarterbacks and other members of the coaching staff that brought the younger Hartline – Brian is 39 and Mike 36 – to Tampa.
“It is probably more meaningful to my mom,” Brian Hartline stated when asked about he and Mike working together for the first time. “It wasn’t a forced issue; it was a right alignment issue.”
That is where offensive coordinator Tim Beck came into play. Mike Hartline was an offensive analyst on his staff at Coastal Carolina in 2024 and was an intern at Ohio State in 2015 and 2016 when Beck was a co-offensive coordinator (with Ed Warriner) with the Buckeyes, for whom Brian Hartline played a decade earlier.
“I was trying to identify a quarterback coach that had the experience of playing and has coached at different levels,” said Brian Hartline, who USF hired in December. “I think (Mike’s) ability and Tim’s ability to work together earlier in their careers just aligned. That allows us to put the right resources in the quarterback room both from an experience standpoint with coach Beck, who has worked with a lot of great players, and Mike, a former player who has also worked with great players. Any time you can add a former player to a room, it is something that provides a lot of value.”
While Brian Hartline’s career as an assistant and coordinator spanned nine years and was entirely at his alma mater, USF is Mike Hartline’s eighth stop on his coaching timeline. He returned to Lexington last year when he served as a quality control assistant on Mark Stoops’ staff. When the opportunity arose to join his brother at USF, well, sure it would be nice to have the Hartline boys together, but it had to be the right fit.
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“It’s definitely a pleasure and, obviously, we’re very close,” he said. “But it had to make sense. It was a good place that I was in, being at my alma mater. I absolutely loved it, but understanding what’s best for my family and my career, it was it was a no brainer (to come to USF.) I’m really excited at the fact that we can work with each other.”
The Canton, Ohio natives overlapped at GlenOak High, about a six-mile drive from the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and had not since been on the same playing field or sideline.
“We’ve talked all the time and we always shared stories about what’s going on with football, but to be in the same building is exciting,” said Mike Hartline.
When asked why his brother will be a successful head coach, the younger Hartline noted that consistency goes a long way.
“I love the fact that he sets the temperature the same every day,” he said. “He’s the same guy every day. He always tells us, ‘No matter what you want to achieve, the work always has to be done and it has to be done at a high level.’ It’s getting on the same page, everyone buying in.”
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