Todd Hartley's Rise to College Football Stardom

A look back at how Georgia tight end coach Todd Hartley has become one of the greatest assistant coaches in all of college football.

Heading into his eighth year as a head coach, Kirby Smart has seemingly constructed the University of Georgia into a college football dynasty. Back-to-back national titles and are now the favorites to win a third straight heading into the 2023 season. Smart is accredited for the Bulldogs' rise to the top of the sport, and rightfully so, but Smart's success at Georgia is rooted much deeper than just what he has done and accomplished as a head coach. 

Programs cannot sustain success both on the football field and on the recruiting trail as much as Georgia has without the help of a dependable staff. Smart has consistently pieced together some immensely talented rosters since his arrival, but he has also achieved the ability to correctly decipher who to hire when he needs to. Perhaps the most impactful hire he made came back in 2019 when he brought a man named Todd Hartley on board. 

Hartley is a Georgia native, a University of Georgia alumni, and a personality that was made to be successful in the college football landscape. And from the moment he entered the realm of coaching football, the signs were there that success would follow him for the rest of time. 

The Georgia coach jump-started his coaching career by accepting a graduate assistant job at West Virginia in 2008 following his three-year stint as a student assistant in Athens. After a few years, he found himself coaching safeties at Marshall which then transpired into him being tabbed as tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator. It is from there that Hartley began to make a name for himself. 

In his first year coaching the position, Marshall had a tight end go for over 800 season receiving yards for the first time in seven years. After one more season with the Thundering Herd, Hartley would return to his roots for a season serving as the Director of Player Personnel during Mark Rciht's final year at Georgia. 

Georgia tight ends coach Todd Hartley during Georgia’s practice session in Athens, Ga., on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. (Tony Walsh/UGAAA)

Hartley would then follow the old Georgia head coach to Miami to regain his title as a tight end coach while also helping out with special teams. In his first season with the Hurricanes, Hartley began to solidify himself as a position coach. In 2016, Maimi tight end David Njoku ended the season with nearly 700 receiving yards who would later be taken in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft. An accolade that would later turn into a trend. 

The very next season at Miami, Christopher Herndon IV would get drafted in the fourth round after a successful final collegiate season. He was then followed by Brevin Jordan, who was recruited by Hartley as the second-best tight end in the nation for his class and would go on to be a fifth-round draft pick later in his career. Hartley's string of success in Miami is what helped him land his current job as the tight end coach at Georgia in 2019. 

Once Hartley settled back down in his home state, it didn't take long for him to get the juice flowing for the Bulldogs. He started off by landing former five-star tight end Darnell Washington in the 2020 class who is now set to play on Sundays for the Pittsburgh Steelers after being selected in the third round of this year's draft. Hartley then followed that by reeling in Brock Bowers who is fresh off of a Mackey Award-winning season and a player who is considered by many to be one of the best positional players in the sport. 

Over the last two recruiting cycles, Georgia has landed some other big-time names at the position like Oscar Delp, Pearce Spurlin, and Lawson Luckie. All names that are expected to have great careers in the red and black. Hartley has also helped Georgia earn commitments from Jaden Reddell and Colton Heinrich in the 2024 recruiting class and was recently named the top recruiter in college football by 247Sports.

He may not have recently become well-known in the college football world until the last few years at Georgia, but Hartley's track record showed he was destined to become a household name from the jump. In just three years, he has helped rejuvenate Georgia's tight end room and has quickly risen to the top of the ranks when it comes to assistant coaches in college football. 

Other Georgia News:

• Recruiting Update: Who Could Be Next for Georgia?
• George Pickens Can Be a “Top Guy in the League,” According to Steelers QB
• Preseason All-SEC Teams Released

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