EAST LANSING – Courtney Hawkins received multiple offers to jump to the collegiate level during more than a decade as head football coach and athletic director at Flint Beecher High School.
They just weren't a good fit for his life at the time. Then an opportunity presented itself at Michigan State, and Hawkins seized it.
In his last four seasons coaching wide receivers for the Spartans, the team has seen a lot of growth. Hawkins helped lead to multiple NFL draft picks despite his offensive struggles and inconsistent play at quarterback.
Given the results, it's surprising that Hawkins once again attracted interest from other schools after coach Mel Tucker was fired for reasons in September and Jonathan Smith took over the program in November. isn't it. He intended to continue elsewhere, but with Michigan State being his home base, he didn't want to leave. This is where Hawkins was a star receiver 30 years ago before playing nine years in the NFL.
“I obviously have green blood in my heart,” Hawkins said Thursday. “This is who I am and this is what I do. I love it here and I wanted to be here.”
Hawkins is in his fifth year back and is the only one of the 10 on-field assistants Smith retained from Tucker's staff. For a coach who took over a program that clearly lacked ties to the Midwest, Hawkins seemed like the obvious fit to hang on, but it wasn't easy. He recalled having four meetings with Smith, each lasting about two hours, before Smith's hiring was made official on Dec. 11.
“I went through a rigorous interview process,” Hawkins said. “I didn't just come here and get stamped as a wideouts coach. He had other guys that I interviewed with, so I'm very grateful to be able to get this position.”
Smith was impressed with Hawkins' history as a player and coach and his passion for Michigan State. He also fits into Smith's stated vision of being a developmental program focused on relationships.
A clear example is Keon Coleman. He is a highly skilled recruit out of Louisiana that Hawkins helped bring to Michigan State and had a breakout sophomore season in 2022. Coleman was poised to become the Spartans' arguably No. 1 receiver and was expected to make the next leap, but he left. After last year's spring practice. He transferred to Florida State, had another big season and could be a first-round pick in next week's NFL Draft.
Hawkins may have been bitter about the move, but he wasn't. Coleman returned to campus last month for a basketball game (he also played on Tom Izzo's team as a freshman) and chatted with Hawkins for two hours in his office.
“He made a business decision, but we have a relationship now that's bigger than this business of college football. It's totally different,” Hawkins said. “He took advantage of what he thought was best for him, but … we have a great relationship and I'm one of his biggest fans.”
Coleman is the third draft pick after developing under Hawkins, joining Jalen Naylor, who went to the Vikings in the sixth round in 2022, and Jaden Reed, who went to the Packers in the second round last year. He is a former Michigan State University receiver. Entering the final week of spring practice against Michigan State, Hawkins has a new challenge as he continues to get the most out of his group while working with an entirely new offense.
“It's a different system, a completely different system, so the more football I can digest, the better I'll be as a coach,” Hawkins said. “You get to learn different player systems and how to run different routes, including the whole nine yards. It's kind of a professional development process for me.”
Smith brought in six assistant coaches from Oregon State, including offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brian Lindgren. Hawkins, who played under George Perles, is making the switch to work for an offensive-minded head coach in Smith, a former Oregon State quarterback who was promoted to coordinator.
“I'm excited to work with Coach Smith and his staff and obviously the players from Oregon,” Hawkins said. “They all know each other. I'm kind of a newcomer, but they pulled me in and made sure I understood how things were done.”
Michigan State has been one of the nation's best offensive teams in three of the four years under Tucker and coordinator Jay Johnson, with the outlier being 2021, the only It was a winning season. A new staff that brings in talented young quarterback Aidan Chiles, a leading scorer from Oregon State, means new hope for the Spartans on that side of the ball. Hawkins described it as closer to a professional style than what Michigan State has previously operated, and similar to what the Lions and Rams operate in the NFL.
“Being around football all my life, it was fun to see some of the concepts that we're going to do. I thought, 'Okay, this is cool,'” Hawkins said. “We're going to take shots here, we're going to do this, we're going to do that, how to get guys the ball quickly on the edge. I really appreciate the offense and the wideouts. From a standpoint, we're going to go at them like, “This is it, hey.'' It would be nice to play in this offense, and I think the players want to play in this offense.''
The offense is receiver-friendly, but Michigan State doesn't have an established game breaker. Montrey Foster led the team with 43 catches, 576 yards and three touchdowns last season, entering his fifth year back, but he hasn't had many accomplishments to follow.
“Not one, not two, not three,” Hawkins said. “My room is wide open and I'm trying to establish that I'm going to let the cream rise to the top. And I'm going to be competitive this spring.”
Hawkins joked that being 5 feet 10 inches “on a good day” didn't prevent him from playing nearly a decade in the NFL, but understandably, a physique as rigid as Tucker's Don't stick to measurements. Reed is just 5-11, but was an All-American at Michigan State under Hawkins before a standout rookie season in Green Bay.
“When you see players develop here, it really makes you feel good,” Hawkins said. “I know what it takes to get players to get to that level and perform at that level. I'm very proud of them.”
Hawkins is the only player left on the staff, but he has a long history with new cornerbacks coach Demetris Martin, who spent the past two seasons at Oregon. Hawkins and current Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller accepted a recruiting visit from Martin before he signed with the Spartans. Martin arrived from Southern California as a receiver and went on to become a standout defensive back for the Spartans.
In separate media interviews Tuesday, the two former teammates joked about who would have won had they gone head-to-head on opposite sides of the ball. Although both players are decades removed from their playing days, Hawkins takes a unique approach to the beginning of each practice. While other coaches are mulling over their players' lines, Hawkins goes through the same stretching drills on the side.
“I stretch because a lot of times I see guys doing things and they’re not doing it right,” Hawkins said with a smile. “Well, who better to demonstrate that than me? Hey, I'm ready to go.”
There was a good reason Hawkins was in good spirits Thursday while answering questions in the lobby of the new Tom Izzo Football Building. On Nov. 24, when the Spartans ended a dismal 4-8 season with a blowout loss to Penn State at Ford Field, he knew for months that it would be his last game. He was a member of the staff.
Most of Hawkins' former colleagues have taken on new jobs, several of them multiple times in the past five months, across the country from Wyoming to Alabama to Illinois. These are the next destinations for a nomadic occupation, and Hawkins is invested in exactly where he wanted to be: in the past, present, and future of the Spartans.
“I'm incredibly grateful to be here every day,” Hawkins said. “Every day I park my car and walk through the door with a smile on my face, no matter what is going on, win, lose, draw, every day. I can't wait to coach them, push them, develop them, love them, and get our program back to prominence.
“This is our program. I helped put the bricks here, so this is our program. We're going to take this program back.”
