COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Brian Hartline never wishes his Ohio State receivers good luck. That’s because of Jarvis Landry.

Jarvis Landry always takes it upon himself to help young receivers. That’s because of Brian Hartline.

Five years ago, a Miami Dolphins receiver coming off consecutive 1,000-yard seasons welcomed a second-round draft pick into the receivers room. Hartline, the veteran, never knew it then, but his instinct to discuss the game with the rookie came from the same place that led him to become Ohio State’s receivers coach in 2018 and reshape and reinvigorate that position in Columbus.

Landry, the rookie, may not have understood it then, but as Hartline and fellow veteran Mike Wallace showed him the ropes, he adopted the outlook that led him to reshape and reinvigorate the Browns receivers room when he arrived in Cleveland in 2018.

Two teammates in Miami for one season in 2014, now changing attitudes in Columbus and Cleveland in 2018 and 2019.

“He’s probably a helluva coach,” Landry, 21 then and 26 now, told me of Hartline. “He was one of the smartest guys in the room. He could tell you everything about the offense and what we were trying to do, from the routes to the protection to what the quarterback probably was thinking, all that stuff. I know that began my learning process of how I learned the game."

“That was the approach, we knew he could help us win,” said Hartline, 27 then and 32 now. “He was a very talented, special young man. I tried to do the best I could for him, and I’m glad he feels that way, because I think a lot of him. He’s a good dude, and the sky’s still the limit for him.”

Hartline was entering his sixth NFL season when Landry arrived. Landry is now entering his sixth NFL season, and when, for instance, the Browns traded for receiver Taywan Taylor over the weekend, it was Landry they got on the phone with him. John Dorsey jokingly asked Taylor, just acquired from Tennessee, which one of these “knuckleheads” he wanted to talk to first. Taylor said both, meaning Landry and Odell Beckham, and Dorsey told him he’d get “Pitbull One” on the phone first.

Landry welcomed Taylor, then Beckham did the same. Beckham shared a playbook that included his own tips about plays and routes. Landry told him to get ready to work.

“That affects me tremendously, just knowing what type of guys are in that room," Taylor said. “They work nonstop 24-7. It’s going to motivate me, just trying to live up to what they do.”

We know how Landry was shaped by his college experience, playing at LSU with Beckham under Adam Henry, now their receivers coach again with the Browns. But when Landry got to the NFL, picked at No. 63 by Miami, he was on his own. Hartline didn’t feel like he had a veteran who really explained the NFL to him, so he and Wallace made sure that didn’t happen with Landry.

“The year before I got there was one of his best seasons, so I definitely looked up to him,” Landry said. “It was me watching him, how he used his stems, how he’d make catches on the sideline, toe taps and just paying attention to him. Mike Wallace was another guy I looked up to, and I kept my eye on those two my whole rookie year.”

Landry said he’s heard stories of older receivers who don’t care about rookies, “because they’re worried they’re coming to take their job. So they don’t help you,” Landry said. "But those guys did help me and they looked out for me, on and off the field, and that’s something I’m forever grateful for.

“So that’s what I do.”

In turned out that 2014 was Hartline’s final year in Miami, as he caught 39 passes for 474 yards. Landry in Year 1 had 84 catches for 758 yards. Hartline played his final NFL season with the Browns in 2015. Landry had his breakout first Pro Bowl year in Miami in 2015.

In March 2018, Landry was traded to the Browns. In July 2018, Hartline was named Ohio State’s interim receivers coach after the firing of Zach Smith. In August 2018, Hartline watched Landry’s impassioned speech to the Browns receivers room on Hard Knocks like every other football fan. Hartline saw the rookie he remembered, but grown up.

“That’s who he is,” Hartline said. “I think the best leaders are the most genuine, and with him, he’s as genuine as it comes. He wasn’t afraid to talk about being great and what it entails, and he still embodies that today.”

Landry spoke that way because he cared about the Browns room. He wanted to change it.

“I was just part of it, I was part of it,” Landry said. “When the culture changes, it’s just a mindset. I think everything starts with a mindset, and I learned that from a young age.”

Hartline believes that in the NFL, change must come from players, because they have so much power. So Landry’s voice echoes. In college, the receivers can look to their coach more.

Smith had success with the OSU receivers, but there’s a level of precision and expectation that has risen in Columbus since making a seven-year NFL veteran their coach. Hartline learned something from that Miami rookie, something that he spreads through the OSU receiver room. The Buckeyes may not know it, but there’s a piece of Landry in Hartline’s attitude.

Before games, Miami coach Joe Philbin used to walk around the locker room and wish players good luck. Hartline remembers watching Landry go along with it for a game. And then the rookie spoke up.

“He said, ‘Coach, I don’t need luck. Stop wishing me good luck. Tell me to be great. The luck’s been gone,’” Hartline said. “So ever since then, I don’t wish luck. I agree with him. Don’t tell me to be lucky. Tell me to be great. I put the work in. So that was an ‘aha’ moment for me.

“You’re right. We worked our tails off. Go be great.”

In Cleveland and Columbus, that’s what two old Miami teammates are getting their rooms to do.

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