Former Spartan WR Credits MSU Coach For His Success
Former Michigan State Spartans wide receiver Jayden Reed has been absolutely balling out so far in his second NFL season with the Green Bay Packers and is being recognized as one of the league's top young receivers.
Earlier this week, Reed joined NFL receiver brother duo, Amon-Ra and Equanimeous St. Brown on the "St. Brown Podcast" and was asked which player or coach has made the biggest impact on his career. The answer just so happened to be a current Spartan.
“Career man, I’ll say my receivers coach at Michigan State, really,” Reed said. “I had a real genuine relationship with him. He played in the league for nine years, so he told me how important special teams and stuff was; I still return punts to this day. He just put me in the right mindset to get prepared for the league and stuff like that, so I would say he made the biggest impact as a coach.”
Reed is referring to current Spartans wide receiver coach Courtney Hawkins, who has been in that role since 2020. Hawkins was a nine-year NFL veteran as a receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Pittsburgh Steelers, totaling over 4,000 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns.
In his second professional season, Reed has put up 414 receiving yards and two touchdowns through the first five weeks. He has also returned 14 punts in his career. The former Spartan is quickly making a name for himself as a major threat in the Packers' passing game.
Hawkins has produced other NFL talents out of the Spartans receiver room including Buffalo Bills rookie Keon Coleman and second-year Jalen Nailor with the Minnesota Vikings. All three have been impact players for their respective franchises in 2024.
This level of credit from Reed speaks to the incredible job that Hawkins does to not only prepare his college receivers to play their next game but get them ready for the next level when the time comes.
Reed was not the first and surely will not be the last NFL receiver that Hawkins is able to teach and mentor en route to playing on Sundays.
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