Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline speech on the new defense commitment.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State’s wait for five-star receiver Jeremiah Smith took more twists and turns than the Buckeyes would have liked, but the No. 1 overall prospect officially joined the program on Wednesday night.
And Thursday on social media, offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline made his first public comments on the newest receiver.
Coach Ryan Day jokingly (or perhaps not-so-jokingly) started to collapse during his Wednesday press conference when Smith’s commitment became official. But since the letter of intent didn’t come through, Day could not comment on Smith joining the team.
Now with Smith in the mix, along with fellow five-star Mylan Graham, the future of Ohio State’s receiver room is once again remarkably bright.
Following Ohio State’s 78-36 win over the New Orleans Privateers on Thursday night, Zed Key, Devin Royal, and acting head coach Jake Diebler spoke with a small group of media members about the game and the circumstances surrounding tonight’s sudden coaching substitution.
Royal and Key spoke first, and the biggest topic was how the game was different for the two guys with Diebler calling the shots instead of Holtmann. Key said that “it wasn’t different at all” because Diebler is the offensive coordinator, and he called plays tonight as well. Royal said he is feeling more comfortable with the college game as he goes on, but that he knew New Orleans was not a good defensive rebounding team, so he would have opportunities on the glass.
Diebler talked about how working for Holtmann has helped prepare him for moments like this, and how their preparation as a staff made things easier for him. He said substitutions were challenging, and that “there’s a lot more that goes into it than you’d think.”
