How Courtney Hawkins Maintains MSU's Strongest NFL Pipeline
The recruiting hub of 247Sports has a page that is dedicated to ranking the best recruiters in the country. Recruiters in college football are typically position coaches and -- you guessed it -- they recruit their position group.
The highly ranked coaches on the list belong to Power Four schools. Typically, they belong to blue bloods. Lots of NIL money to offer, program consistency, and a proven track record. Cultural fit and system fit play a role, too.
Nowhere near the top of 247Sports' list will you see Michigan State wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins. In fact, for the Big Ten conference alone, he ranks 49th.
Hawkins doesn't typically pull in the four- or five-star recruits, blue-chippers who are already labeled as potential NFL talents. Yet that track record of his makes him Michigan State's most valuable asset on the recruiting trail.
And its healthiest pipeline.
Green Bay Packers star Jayden Reed might be Hawkins' prized pupil right now. The Packers' No. 1 option and 2023 second-round pick, Reed only started in 10 games in 2024 but notched 55 receptions for 857 receiving yards and six touchdowns. That was with a shaky situation at quarterback, too.
Then you have Jalen Nailor, another NFC North pass catcher with the Minnesota Vikings. A talented No. 3 option behind two stars, Nailor wasn't even a Hawkins recruit coming out of Bishop Gorman in 2018. A speedy, raw prospect, Hawkins was able to mold him into a serviceable NFL mainstay.
Keon Coleman, star rookie for the Buffalo Bills and 2024 second-rounder (pick No. 33), spent two seasons with the Spartans and had a dominant 2023 campaign (58 receptions, 798 receiving yards, seven touchdowns) before transferring to Florida State, jumping ship before the Mel Tucker fiasco.
Reed, an unheralded recruit who began his collegiate career at mid-major Western Michigan; Nailor, a middling three-star; Coleman was the only highly touted recruit, a four-star who was ranked No. 42 in his class. Still nowhere near the hype of a Jeremiah Smith, Ryan Wingo or even the current Hawkins protege, Nick Marsh.
Marsh could be the best of all of them. A dominant age-18 campaign and all of the NFL traits, there is no ceiling for the River Rouge product. He could very well be Hawkins' first ever first-rounder.
Hawkins might be the premier developer of wide receiver talent in the country. If anything, he is the most underrated. He told reporters that he recruits and coaches prospects to break the very records he holds as a former Michigan State wide receiver, to bump him out of the top 10.
Perhaps his greatest insight is that he gives from his own NFL experience. Everything is from the lens of a former pro. He mentioned to reporters in September that he considered it a fault.
That couldn't be further from the truth.
Michael France is Sports Illustrated's Michigan State recruiting beat writer, covering all things Big Ten recruiting for Spartan Nation. Be sure to follow him on Twitter/X@michaelfrancesi for exclusive Spartans recruiting coverage.
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