Lexington, Kentucky — Mike Hartline, the Wildcats’ quarterback from 2006 to 2010, will return to the University of Kentucky football team as offensive quality control coach, head coach Mark Stoops announced Thursday. Hartline has ten years of coaching experience at Division I schools including Ohio State, Cincinnati, Auburn, Charlotte, and Coastal Carolina.
“We are excited for Mike Hartline to return to Kentucky,” Stoops told the audience. “It was the right time and opportunity to bring him back and I know he will be an asset to our coaching staff.”
Hartline’s most recent stop was as an offensive analyst at Coastal Carolina in 2024, when he helped the Chanticleers qualify for the Myrtle Beach Bowl. The 2023 season was spent with Charlotte as the pass game coordinator,
In 2022, he was Auburn’s offensive analyst and quarterbacks coach.
“When I first got into coaching it was always in the back of my mind how thrilled I would be to return to Kentucky, and if the timing was right I wouldn’t hesitate to come back,” Hartline recalled. “My instructors had a tremendous impact on me, and I intend to repay the favor.
“I’ve stayed in touch with Coach Stoops over the years and admire the coaching staffs and teams he has put together to take the program to where it is today.”
Hartline also acquired vital experience as Division II Ohio Dominican’s offensive coordinator and quarterback coach (2019-2021). In 2021, Hartline’s Panther offense averaged 381.5 yards per game, led by running back Frederick Pitts and wide receiver David Turner, both First Team All-Great Midwest Conference selections. In a shorter 2021 spring season, the Panthers produced G-MAC co-Freshman of the Year Travis Whittaker. In his first season at ODU, the Panthers’ completion percentage of 62.9 was 13th in the nation.
Hartline had worked at Cincinnati as the offensive quality control coach and assistant quarterbacks coach for two years before joining ODU. He led the Bearcats to an 11-2 record in 2018, with victories over Virginia Tech in the Military Bowl and at UCLA.
His first coaching experience was at Ohio State (2015-16), where he worked with quarterbacks Cardale Jones, JT Barrett, Joe Burrow, and Dwayne Haskins. The Buckeyes had a two-year record of 24-3, including two Fiesta Bowl appearances.
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