The Ohio State football program is in the middle of spring practice as they try to put together a lot of new pieces. 51 new players on the roster, along with a new offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach, means a lot of work needs to be done. Cortez Hankton is the new receivers coach.
Hankton came over from LSU after Brian Hartline took the head coaching job at USF. It took two guys to replace the role that he was filling for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Hankton is learning about all of the new guys on the roster except for one. That is Kyle Parker, who came with him from LSU.
Parker is going to be fighting for starting snaps alongside Jeremiah Smith and Brandon Inniss. Parker is the leader to be the slot receiver at the moment. Hankton really likes what Parker brings to the table, even comparing him to a former All-SEC performer that he coached.
Cortez Hankton compares new Ohio State WR Kyle Parker to Kyren Lacy
Hankton believes that Parker has the chance to be as good as Lacy was when he was with the Tigers.
"When I step inside these white lines, I think of the guys that I've coached before, and a guy like Kyren Lacy, who was like my son. When I walk out here, I want to make sure that I honor his name, and I do everything I can to help every individual in that room. To see KP, who was like a brother to Kyren, taking that black stripe off, man, it was really just...fun.”
Lacy was named second-team All-SEC in 2024. The Buckeyes would certainly love to see Parker be just like Lacy was on the field. Lacy had some unfortunate off-the-field problems after he left LSU, but that's not what this is about. Hankton wants to turn Parker into a baller like Lacy was.
With Julian Sayin throwing him the ball, Parker will certainly have a chance to catch a lot of passes. If he can fight his way up the depth chart, the sky is the limit for him.