One man gives reason to believe in Michigan State football's wide receivers

EAST LANSING — Six weeks before his NFL dreams were realized, Jayden Reed made it a point to credit the person who helped transform him from an undervalued Group of Five transfer into a future second-round pick of the Green Bay Packers.

“He knows the ropes,” Reed said. “He knows everything.”

Reed was referring to Michigan State football wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins, the Flint native who has become the most proven talent developer on Mel Tucker’s staff.

Over the past three seasons, he has supervised an assembly line that has rolled out one productive pass catcher after another, building them into players that executives at the pro level covet. Jalen Nailor became a sixth-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 2022, then showed promise as a rookie last year. Reed, in his first training camp, has already sparked intrigue to the point that some see him as both a sleeper in fantasy football and a potential offensive threat in real life. Then there is Keon Coleman, MSU’s former rising star who seemed destined for big things this season before he transferred to Florida State in the spring. One NFC executive recently told the Free Press that Coleman has first-round traits with the “size and measurables” attractive to teams around the league.

Coleman was Hawkins’ next big project, and the coach was in the process of molding a player who arrived in East Lansing chock full of raw athleticism into a dominant receiver with refined technique. Even as Reed reprised his role as the No. 1 option when last season began, Coleman led the Spartans in catches, receiving yards and touchdowns by its bitter end. With Reed departed in 2023, Coleman was seemingly on track to become the focal point of the passing game, the unquestioned top target. It’s why when a reporter asked about Coleman on Tuesday, Hawkins grew uncomfortable, paused and began rubbing his hands together.

“I’ll say this, I don’t know” he began. “I love Keon. Good kid. Going to be a heck of a player. But I’ll focus on my guys that are here.”

The other MSU receivers Coleman left behind aren’t nearly as accomplished and don’t match his potential. Tre Mosley, the most productive of them all, contributed less than half of Coleman’s yardage total from scrimmage in 2022.

Transfer Alante Brown — who piques more curiosity than anyone else — made only 22 catches over three seasons at Nebraska, far fewer than Coleman’s 58 last fall alone.

So, it's no surprise Hawkins has yet to pinpoint a go-to option for the quarterback — Noah Kim or Katin Houser — tasked with commanding the offense.

“We have yet to establish that,” he said. “We’ll figure that out as the season goes.”

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The response didn’t exactly inspire confidence. The belief that MSU will still be OK, however, lies in Hawkins’ track record. Within an offense that has so many questions — from Jay Johnson’s play-calling to the Kim-Houser competition to a ground game that sputtered amid a 5-7 season — Hawkins’ work is about as spotless and unimpeachable as it gets.

His colleagues swear by him.

And his players do, too, pointing to the MSU alum’s nine-year NFL career as evidence of his bona fides.

“He knows what he’s talking about,” Mosley said. “We all know that. … Whatever he says to us, we take it in.”

Hawkins embodies the Spartan Dawg ethos central to the program with which he etched his name in its record books in the late 1980s and early 1990s. When he says, “No block, no rock,” he means it. Anywhere he goes, Hawkins comes across as a no-nonsense coach, the kind who demands a lot and won’t settle for less.

“But you like that as a player,” Mosley said, “because it shows that your coach cares about you. He wants to see you improve because he sees more in you.”

Mosley watched as Hawkins pulled enough out of Nailor, Reed and Coleman to turn them into playmakers. Now, Hawkins is charged with finding that next standout within a receiver corps he claims is deeper than any other he has directed at MSU, even if it may not be as top-heavy as those others.

The challenge would seem daunting considering the uncertainty at quarterback and the absence of previous performance at wideout. But Hawkins doesn’t seem fazed.

“I feel like the sky is the limit,” he said.

If Hawkins thinks that, it’s worth taking note. He’s shown he can be a trusted source, especially when it comes to quality wide receiver play.

Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @RainerSabin.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football's Courtney Hawkins is biggest reason to hope