Cortez Hankton headed to LSU, what it means for Georgia
Georgia assistant coach Cortez Hankton is on his way out of town according to On3’s Matt Zenitz. The wide receivers coach will take the same position back in his home state of Louisiana at LSU, joining new head coach Brian Kelly.
Hankton has been at Georgia since 2018, adding the passing game coordinator title to his responsibilities after a year on staff. During his time in Athens, Hankton recruited and coached George Pickens to an SEC All-Freshman season in 2019. Pickens was named MVP of the 2020 Allstate Sugar Bowl with a career-high 12 catches and 175 yards as Georgia beat Baylor. Furthermore, Hankton has had his hand in coaching several NFL draftees: Terry Godwin, Mecole Hardman and Riley Ridley, all selected in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Prior to his tenure at Georgia, Hankton spent time at Vanderbilt (2015-17) and Dartmouth (2012-14) after his playing days were over. Hankton was a two-time All-SWAC player and team MVP at Texas Southern, finishing his college career with 175 receptions and 30 touchdowns. After that, he was picked up as an undrafted free agent by the Jacksonville Jaguars where he played from 2003 to 2006. He spent the 2007 season on the practice squad for the Minnesota Vikings and 2008 season rostered by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before playing in the United Football League for three more seasons.
Hankton has also had a major impact off the field during his time at Georgia. He has helped spearhead the team’s Dawgs for Pups program that has assisted Athens-area children with a number of vital goods and services including a food drive, providing internet access for families during the times of at-home learning and a coat collection during the winter. He has two sons, Cortez “Trip” III and Cruz.
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Hankton’s departure means that an assistant’s position has opened up on the offensive side of the ball for the first time since the 2020 offseason. That time Kirby Smart brought in both offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Todd Monken and offensive line coach Matt Luke. Monken’s experience extends beyond just quarterbacks though, working with wide receivers for a large portion of his career including stops in the NFL with the Jaguars and Buccaneers.
One possibility would be Monken moving from coaching quarterbacks to specializing in wide receivers to open up a spot for offensive quality control coach Buster Faulkner to get on the field. It’s also possible that Smart decides to go outside the organization. At the same time, he’ll be dealing with the same dilemma defensively as defensive coordinator Dan Lanning was hired as the next head coach at Oregon, opening up an assistant’s job on that side of the ball as well.
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