Courtney Hawkins masterclass was on full display in Week 8

When Jonathan Smith was hired into Michigan State football late last calendar year, a lot of Spartan fans were excited to see a new staff. That is, a new staff with an exception: everyone, from the recruits (Nick Marsh) to the fans to the players wanted Courtney Hawkins to reprise his role as the receivers coach. After a nerve-wracking few days, Coach Hawk was kept in East Lansing, to the relief of all involved.

Now why, you might ask, would everyone want to maintain a receivers coach who’s entire wide receiver core combined for less than 1,700 yards in 2023? Simply put, Hawkins spots, develops, and cultivates talent.

That was on full display this past weekend.

Starting with the obvious

It would be criminal to write about a Michigan State coach and not mention his current product. During Saturday night’s Homecoming win over Iowa, Spartan receivers Montorie Foster Jr. and Nick Marsh each went over 100 yards. Foster finished with a career-high 100 yards receiving, including a beautiful corner route for an 18-yard score. The Ohio native was the only Spartan to finish over 500 yards receiving last season, and his 374 yards so far make him a virtual lock to finish over that threshold again.

Marsh was the other receiver over the 100-yard mark. The true freshman led the team with 113 yards and caught all eight of his targets. He was a highly-coveted four star out of River Rouge, and his “dealbreaker” near the end of recruiting appeared to be that if the Spartans kept Hawkins, Marsh would be on campus in January. All Marsh has done is single handedly win the Spartans their Maryland contest, with over 190 yards receiving, and be named a true freshman midseason All-American. His talent is obvious, and Hawkins has done nothing but cultivate it in the freshman’s first nine months on campus. Marsh currently sits 116 yards (or a really good game against Michigan) from breaking BJ Cunningham’s true freshman record for receiving yards.

Looking around the country

I’ve said it before, but the MSU receiving room in the early 2020s was loaded. With a staff change and a lot of addition at the receiver room, multiple players have headed to greener pastures for playing time, and the “Coach Hawkins” effect is very real. Four different former Spartans under Hawkins recorded over 70 receiving yards in their contests on Saturday.

The third receiver at 100 receiving yards who learned from Hawkins was current Eastern Michigan Eagle Terry Lockett Jr.. The Minnesota native played in 15 games for the Spartans, learning under Hawkins for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Lockett recorded 100 receiving yards and two touchdowns as the Eagles won their own Homecoming on the strength of a 22-point fourth quarter. Even better? He recorded a highlight reel deflection catch for a touchdown, with this coming against MSU’s semi-rival, Stallions-allied Central Michigan.

HOW DID HE CATCH THIS 😱 pic.twitter.com/zMHs65rJzF

— ESPN (@espn) October 19, 2024

Ricky White III has been a playmaker for UNLV the last two seasons, and White over 70 receiving yards should come as a shock to no one. He started his career at Michigan State, putting up Hawkins’ second 100-plus-yard receiving game as a position coach in the win over Michigan in 2020. On Saturday, White finished with 88 yards receiving and a touchdown as the Rebels took down another pseudo-rival of the Spartans, the Oregon State Beavers. In addition to his touchdown and nearly 90 yards, White recorded his third blocked punt on the season. Every other FBS team in the country has two or less blocked punts, and White has three by himself. Talk about a difference-maker.

Cade McDonald might be a name quite a few people forgot about or do not know about. McDonald started his career as a walk-on at Michigan State, being the third member of the Naperville-to-Michigan State pipeline alongside Payton Thorne and Jayden Reed. McDonald was actually Thorne’s go-to guy as a high school senior, with nearly 1,400 yards receiving. A three-year letter winner with MSU, McDonald transferred out following 2023 spring ball to pursue more playing time, and landed with the Miami-Ohio RedHawks. McDonald has had an impressive 2024 season, with his 466 yards marking a team high through seven games. His 84 yards and a touchdown helped propel the RedHawks over the Ohio Bobcats on Saturday.

The final receiver on this list was the only one to take a loss on Saturday, that being Alabama’s Germie Bernard. He started his collegiate career with the Spartans in 2022, recording 128 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns as a true freshman. With Jayden Reed off to the NFL, Bernard was thought to be the next big thing after another offseason under Courtney Hawkins. Evidently, Bernard thought otherwise, transferring to Washington. He followed Kalen DeBoer to Alabama this offseason, and has had a good year so far. Unfortunately, his 72 receiving yards against Tennessee will mostly be overshadowed by his basketball shot pantomime as the Crimson Tide failed to convert a 4th-and-short during the game.

Courtney Hawkins products in the NFL

Saturday was not the stop of a good weekend for Courtney Hawkins products. While Jayden Reed, a player that praised Hawkins recently on the St. Brown Brothers’ podcast, had a quiet day, two other former products went over 70 yards. Speaking of Reed, he is currently on pace to break 1,000 yards receiving in an NFL season, a mark that not even Courtney Hawkins himself could accomplish in the pros.

In a matchup that I am sure plenty of us watched, Jalen Nailor recorded 76 receiving yards against the Lions on four receptions. Nailor was a Dantonio-era holdover that took off in his last two seasons with the Spartans. Coincidently, those two seasons came with Hawkins coaching the position group. After a slower start to his NFL career, it appears the receiver has found his footing. Nailor is currently among the top 10 in the NFL with four touchdowns through seven weeks, so that is something to keep an eye on.

The final player to highlight in the Hawkins extravaganza week in Keon Coleman. He came into the MSU program as a true freshman in 2021, playing in all 13 games and recording a touchdown. He built on that for 2022, becoming a star receiver in a rough season for MSU. Ultimately, Keon left MSU to title chase at Florida State (and we know how that playoff race went), and went 33rd overall to Buffalo in the NFL Draft in April. On Sunday, Coleman had his best career game so far, recording 125 yards receiving, including a career-long 57-yard reception. Coleman has previously credited MSU with nearly all of his development, and that all falls on one man’s shoulders: receivers coach Courtney Hawkins.

In Summary

Hawkins has been a difference-maker of a coach for the Spartans, and might be Mel Tucker’s biggest victory alongside bringing Kenneth Walker III to Michigan State. While people like to point at stars or flashy moves, or bemoan players leaving the program, the one area I have a ton of faith in has always been the receiver room. Even this year, we have seen amazing plays by Spartans and former Spartans alike. From Nick Marsh making an acrobatic catch with an All-American corner draped over him at Oregon, to Christian Fitzpatrick making a one handed catch at Marshall, to Jaron Glover catching the ball in a tight window against Maryland, there is example after example of players Courtney Hawkins recruited and coached making “wow” plays.

Everyone from the four-star blue-chip Marsh to the walk-ons of Cade McDonald and Zach Gillespie have shown their skill and reliability if needed. One only needs to look at Gillespie’s impressive catch in traffic against Prairie View A&M.

Hawkins has said it himself: he is recruiting players to replace him in the record books at Michigan State. His players may not replace his name in the record books, but they will create the legacy for Hawkins with this program.