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Fulfilling His Bucket List, Courtney Hawkins Talks Coaching Spartan Football

Returning to coach football for the Michigan State Spartans, Courtney Hawkins fulfills his bucket list.

East Lansing, MI—Courtney Hawkins is already a Spartan Nation ICON. His career speaks for itself as one of the greatest players in Spartan history. His subsequent success as a pro and then as a high school coach, an administrator, has cemented his legacy. But even with all of those accomplishments, his bucket list was still not complete. 

Until he took an offer from Mel Tucker and returned to East Lansing, this time as a coach, Hawkins talked about what coaching at Michigan State means to him.

  “One reason is I’m super competitive, and I wanted another challenge. I mean, I had a great time doing what I was doing, but it was just something, something that’s fun and inside of me to do. I love college football; I played it at the highest level and if I had my choice of… A lot of people ask what was the most fun? By far, the college was the most fun. Playing at high school, college, and pro-level and just…I’m into giving back, and I felt like I’ve done some things well; I’ve worked hard at being a good person, being a good role model. These guys that are 18, 19, 22 years old, it would be an opportunity to pour into them, to teach them about being a good person and also to help them up their football game to that level that they all wish that they will strive to; strive to get to. So for me it was a no-brainer, and I’m grateful to Coach Tucker for giving me this opportunity at Michigan State University. Like I’ve told a lot of people, a lot of people can’t write this story.”

The Spartans kick off the season on September 5, 2020. They will be hosting in the Northwestern Wildcats with a rare, season-opening Big Ten game.

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