Ohio State Promotes Brian Hartline to Playcaller, Hires Assistants Billy Fessler and Tyler Bowen

Billy Fessler Quarterbacks Coach 

Billy Fessler was promoted to quarterbacks coach after previously being an offensive analyst last season for Ohio State. The 29-year-old Fessler was at UCLA the year before as the quarterbacks coach and spent time at Akron as a quarterbacks coach and play-caller. He is a young coach, jumping into an important role next year as Ohio State will be replacing quarterback Will Howard.

The Buckeyes will need Fessler to help develop Julian Sayin or Lincoln Keinholz into the next starting quarterback. I do not think it is a risk because Day would not promote him unless he thinks he is up for the job. Will Howard mentioned Fessler and the impact he had on him this season, so I expect Fessler will be able to handle the job and be successful. Fessler also had last year to learn from Chip Kelly, and Ryan Day is still considered one of the best developers of quarterbacks in College Football.

Tyler Bowen Offensive Line Coach

This is the most interesting hire for Day and Ohio State. Tyler Bowen was previously the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at Virginia Tech for the last two years. He left an offensive coordinator position for a position coaching position, which is rare to see. Now coaching at Ohio State is a higher level than Virginia Tech, but it is not something you see every day for a coordinator to give up that title.

The best part about this hire is Bowen will be able to help Hartline with game planning, especially in the run game. The other big thing I like about this hire is he is known as a good recruiter. From 2018-2020 he had the title of offensive recruiting coordinator for Penn State, being able to sign stars like offensive tackle Olu Fashanu and tight end Tyler Warren. Under previous offensive line coach Justin Frye, offensive line recruiting was lacking, there is a strong indication that this could improve under Bowen. Bowen's hire makes a ton of sense as a former offensive coordinator and offensive lineman himself. 

Final Thoughts 

In 2015 Ohio State lost offensive coordinator Tom Herman after winning the National Title the previous year, so Urban Meyer replaced him with Ed Warinner, his offensive line coach, and brought in another coach in Tim Beck. It led to a clunky situation as Ohio State's offense was never the same. I bring this up as a cautionary tale for Day and the Buckeyes. I do not think this is the same situation, but it is something to monitor. Hartline has been building for this moment for years and Fessler and Bowen both have good experience. Time will tell if these hires were the right moves by the recently extended Day, but logically they make a lot of sense.