New Ohio State receivers coach Cortez Hankton meets with reporters for the first time last week. He wants to improve his group’s ability to gain yards after the catch. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Cortez Hankton is embracing the chance to replace one of the best position coaches in the country, and he is not going to be Brian Hartline 2.0.
By Marcus Hartman for Press Pros
Columbus, OH — Replacing someone who was widely regarded as the best in the country at his job might seem like a daunting task.
Apparently not if you’re Cortez Hankton Jr.
In his case, succeeding Brian Hartline as Ohio State receivers coach means trying to maintain greatness but in his own way, and that is an opportunity to be envied.
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“Man, you know this is the place to come to,” Hankton said Saturday with enthusiasm when asked why he chose to enter the pressure-cooker of Ohio State football. “When Hart left, you kind of look like, ‘OK, that room is loaded over there.’ And when I got the phone call and had conversations and communications, I could see myself as a fit here.”
Veteran columnist Marcus Hartman writes the Buckeyes and sports at large for Press Pros Magazine.com.
To his point, getting to jump right in with a group that includes All-American “freak of nature” (Hankton’s words) Jeremiah Smith, heady veteran Brandon Inniss and incoming five-star freshman Chris Henry Jr. drives up the desirability meter to be sure.
Having the best materials to work with helps one meet high expectations, and Hankton knows what star receivers look like after tutoring NFL first-round draft picks Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas at LSU and second-round pick Mecole Hardman at Georgia, among others.
Now Hankton inherits a room with plenty of talent, but that’s not all.
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Setting the culture in a room is typically the most difficult part of coaching, and he said Hartline did that in his eight years working for his alma mater that produced eight NFL draft picks.
That includes five first-rounders, and both numbers are expected to grow next month when Carnell Tate hears his name early in the 2026 draft.
Hartline the recruiter made sure Hartline the coach had plenty of four- and five-star talents to work with, but they had to earn their way once arriving on campus.
More touchdowns like this one by Jeremiah Smith against Miami in the Cotton Bowl is what new receivers coach Cortez Hankton is preaching and practicing.
The Buckeye receivers — the ones who make it, anyway — know how to work. They know how to compete, and they understand the importance of doing the little things right. They had to because that was the only way to get out of a loaded position group and onto the field.
However, Hankton is not trying to be Hartline 2.0.
He has his own experience to lean on and a body of work of his own to refer to, having started coaching at elite academic institutions Dartmouth and Vanderbilt before splitting the past eight years between football factories Georgia and LSU.
“So what I’ve tried to do is add a little bit of personality to the room,” Hankton said. “I mean sometimes they’re so serious, so I’m like, ‘Look, the game of football is meant to be fun.’
“There’s always going to be a time and place where the focus has to be laser, but also we have to embrace every single day and know that the game that we’re playing is a blessing. There’s so many things going on in the world that can make you think twice about what you’re doing, but when we step in between these white lines, you have to really embrace this moment and opportunity and just live in the moment.”
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The New Orleans native was jovial and engaging in his first media availability, a contrast from Hartline, who became somewhat flippant and standoffish as his OSU coaching career wore on (perhaps a side effect of in some cases taking questions from the same people who’d been lobbing them at him since he was a teenage player at Ohio State in the late 2000s).
Perhaps the knowledge he sat down at the table with a winning hand he just has to play correctly helped his mood, but there is still work to be done.
Brandon Inniss enjoys some yards after catch in the Buckeyes’ 24-6 win over Washington last year. Inniss has the opportunity to make a bigger impact in the passing game this year with Carnell Tate leaving for the NFL.
In fact, there is an obvious area of weakness that needs to be addressed: Yards after the catch.
That is something Day wanted to improve, and Hankton says it is near and dear to his heart.
“Well, we’re very explosive downfield,” Hankton said. “There has to be more opportunities to catch and carry the football, so we have to be able to be explosive on all levels — first, second and third.
“So when we catch a 6-yard hitch, we have to be able to take it to the house. When we catch a dig, we have to be able to take it to the house. That has to be our mindset and mentality that every time we touch the football we’re going to score.”
In that endeavor, Hankton’s new No. 1 pupil is a believer.
Smith might not be a big talker, but he does want more YAC.
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“I mean, I think I could say (we were) the worst team in yards after catch last year,” said Smith, who caught 87 passes for 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns last season, mostly on deep balls and intermediate routes. “We really had no guys that had juice when they had the ball in their hands, so that’s something we’ve been working on as a receiver group this year.”
Hartline was deadly serious the way he ran his room, insisting on perfection for anyone to get on the field.
That is the type of standard all coaches seek, but upholding it is easier when you have a king’s ransom of talent to choose from when forming a rotation.
“He’s brought a lot of juice to this program, especially in the receiver room. He’s the guy that fits our culture and fits everything I’ve asked for in a receiver coach.” – Jeremiah Smith
(Think UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma once describing how he benched legend Brianna Stewart for whining because he would rather lose than watch his players play with the wrong attitude. If one of his McDonald’s All-Americans isn’t putting in the type of effort or playing with the attitude he prefers, being able to just put another one on the floor instead is a great luxury, but to the victor go the spoils.)
Smith, a top national college prospect since he was a freshman in Miami, Fla., who has always had an eye on his overall development when choosing his career path, endorsed what he’s seen from Hankton.
“He’s brought a lot of juice to this program, especially in the receiver room,” Smith said. “Just been a big help for all of us coming in, all the young guys and me as well and all the veterans. He’s the guy that fits our culture and fits everything I’ve asked for in a receiver coach. Blessed to have him on our team.”
Hankton is also getting what he signed up for so far.
“I’ve always respected and admired this program because of the rich tradition and culture, but when you walk into the building, you truly start to understand why this place has been able to sustain this level of success,” Hankton said. “What Coach Day has done in terms of really creating the culture and the brotherhood, and also coming from a space of tough love, it’s been fun to embrace.
“It’s been fun to embrace because I was able to step in that room and just keep it rolling.”
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