Courtney Hawkins

Biography

Former Spartan great and nine-year NFL veteran Courtney Hawkins has been on the Spartan staff coaching the wide receivers since 2020 and enters his seventh season in 2026. Three wide receivers he has coached at MSU are currently starting in the NFL (Jayden Reed, Packers; Jalen Nailor, Vikings; Keon Coleman, Bills). Both of MSU’s starting wide receivers in 2025 – Nick Marsh and Omari Kelly – garnered honorable mention All-Big Ten. Marsh led the team in receptions (59), receiving yards (662) and TD catches (6), while Kelly was second on the team in catches (47) and receiving yards (626). During Marsh's first season in 2024, he had the best freshman receiving season in program history with 41 receptions for 649 yards. He also had three TDs and ranked eighth in the Big Ten in yards per catch (15.8) and 13th in receiving yards per game (59.0 ypg), which also ranked second among Big Ten freshmen. Marsh also ranked fourth in the FBS among true freshmen in the regular season with 649 receiving yards and sixth with 41 catches. Hawkins coached Reed for three seasons (2020-22) in East Lansing before he embarked on his NFL career with the Packers. A 2021 first-team All-American as an all-purpose player, Reed ranks sixth in the Spartan record book in receptions (147), tied for seventh in touchdown catches (18) and 12th in receiving yards (2,069). The dynamic receiver and returner earned invitations to both the Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine following the 2022 season and was selected in t