News broke late on Sunday night that new Michigan State head coach Pat Fitzgerald would be retaining two key assistants from the Jonathan Smith era.
Courtney Hawkins and Brian Wozniak would be returning to East Lansing in 2026, which is exactly what fans wanted to hear. Christmas came early for the Hawkins believers who think that he can be one of the top assistants on what will now be his third Michigan State coaching staff.
This is also huge for recruiting because high school prospects in the state of Michigan — and just any that have been recruited by Hawkins — have built great relationships with the Michigan State receivers coach. They probably wanted to see him retained (like blue-chip wideout Dakota Guerrant in the 2027 class), so this news is a positive in that regard.
It will also help Fitzgerald retain some key receivers for 2026.
We don’t know the status of some key wideouts yet, but Nick Marsh has announced that he’ll enter his name into the portal and now we likely know what talented freshman Braylon Collier is going to do.
After news broke that Hawkins would be returning, Collier posted this on X:
— Braylon Collier 👑 (@brayloncollier1) December 22, 2025
In case you don’t know what those emojis mean, they refer to “ice gang” which is what Hawkins calls his receiver room. With that quote tweet, it sounds like Collier is still planning to be part of the “ice gang” in 2026.
Michigan State’s receiver room needs a boost
Likely losing Marsh and Omari Kelly, Michigan State’s receiving corps is going to take a big hit this offseason, so it’ll be up to Hawkins and Fitzgerald to make up for those losses.
Bringing Collier back had to be a priority. He redshirted this past season after being a highly-touted freshman, and he’s likely to have a big role in 2026. Hawkins will also make sure Chrishon McCray returns, too. He wasn’t used as much as fans would’ve liked this past season after transferring in from Kent State, but his role increased throughout the year.
There will likely be some transfer portal additions at receiver, too. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Hawkins make a run at Marsh one last time, and also maybe 1-2 more guys in the portal.
Alessio Milivojevic is going to need some help, and it feels like getting Collier back (presumably) is a huge development for the young quarterback.