Since Brian Hartline’s departure, Ohio State’s biggest roster strength has become a gaping hole. Five receivers have entered the transfer portal, including impact recruit Quincy Porter. The priority right now is to maintain the program’s brand as the country’s ‘WR-U,’ and the head has been working to ensure that.

Ohio State has now tasked Cortez Hankton, a former co-offensive coordinator at LSU, with coaching receivers. Receiver recruiting is off to a good start as well, as Columbus got to host top 2027 stars Jamier Brown, Monshun Sale, and Eric McFarland. However, it seems to be too early for Ryan Day to completely let the new hire lead the charge on his own.

“Big trio of those guys up with Cortez Hankton, the new wide receivers coach, just spending time with him, getting to know him and kind of establishing that relationship,” Lettermen Row’s Mick Walker told Rivals on January 11. “Also, a good connect point with Ryan Day, who’s kind of been leading the charge with wide receiver recruiting with Brian Hartline out of the building. Now that you have Cortez Hankton, it’s just a familiarization process with those guys, and it looks like that went well on Saturday.”

According to Rivals, Sale, Brown, and McFarland are the second, third, and fourth-best receiver prospects in the 2027 cycle. Under Ryan Day, Ohio State has been stacked with elite receivers year after year. So, it wasn’t out of the blue to have all these top receivers visit. However, Hankton’s ability to build those relationships will be the deciding factor in securing their commitments.’

“It seems like whether it’s the football aspect, the relationship aspect, all the initial phases of Cortez Hankton’s hire has gone pretty swimmingly so far,” Walker added.

That isn’t surprising because Hankton has an impressive resume, having coached at LSU and Georgia. He has helped develop the likes of Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas. Along with the three visits, Hankton also went for the biggest fish in the pool by making an offer to Texas commit Easton Royal, the No. 1 WR of the 2027 cycle.

The momentum created from recruiting Brown, Sale, and McFarland could persuade Royal to consider Columbus as well.

The new OSU WR coach is trying to win over one of his own recruits from LSU

Ohio State still has elite talent to rely on for the 2026 season. But the depth is extremely thin at WR right now. Elite 2026 receivers Chris Henry Jr. and Jerquaden Guilford will have to step up big time as freshmen, while veterans Jeremiah Smith and Brandon Inniss will have to lead the charge. The only receiver the Buckeyes have secured from the portal is Devin McCuin, who was at UTSA.

That made Ryan Day and Cortez Hankton pursue one of the latter’s former recruits from LSU, Kyle Parker. He played a total of 18 games in the past two years, but did not get enough reps. He entered the portal with a total of 34 catches for 385 yards and 4 TDs.

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OSU already has a connection with Parker, having recruited him out of high school. But now that his former coach will lead the team from now on, he can hope for a better career here. According to Rivals, Parker was ranked the No. 33 receiver of the 2023 cycle. He comes with a production healthy enough to build the depth for Ohio State.