Michigan State football: Courtney Hawkins’ return is huge for the program

Monday was a good day for Michigan State football outside of losing Jacoby Windmon to the transfer portal and Maliq Carr making his departure both official as well as cold (all you have to do is read his transfer graphic).

The Spartans returned both Ethan Boyd and Brandon Baldwin to the offensive line as they withdrew their names from the portal while another big name was brought back by Jonathan Smith.

That big name is Courtney Hawkins who was the receivers coach under Mel Tucker throughout his entire tenure and this seems like a great move for the Spartans in order to bridge the gap.

What do I mean by bridging the gap? When you go from one regime to the next, you want guys who help make the transition easier and Hawkins will do that for Smith and the rest of the staff. Plus, he can recruit in the Midwest and he was one of the best coaches on Tucker’s staff, producing multiple NFL draft picks.

His track record speaks for itself.

Michigan State football will benefit from this in a big way

Not only is Hawkins a great hire by Smith because he’s well-liked by players and recruits (just go look at what Nick Marsh and Jordan Hall’s mom said about Hawkins’ re-hire), but he knows how to develop talent.

Don’t believe me? Just look at his track record.

Hawkins has sent Jayden Reed and Jalen Nailor to the NFL and Keon Coleman would be his third pick if he didn’t decide to transfer to a better offense — he did praise Hawkins, though. Plus, he’s developed guys like Montorie Foster Jr. and Jaron Glover and he knows how to recruit.

Getting Hawkins back is going to be huge for this team and we’ll see how much he’ll flourish in a better offensive scheme.