ALUMNI AWARD
Jones County native Todd Hartley has received another accolade as his reputation as one of the nation’s top tight end coaches continues to grow. Hartley, also a former athletic standout with the Greyhounds, was named Tight Ends Coach of The Year on Friday by FootballScoop. This is the second time in three years that Hartley has been recognized by FootballScoop as Tight Ends Coach of The Year.
A University of Georgia alumnus, Hartley returned to Athens in 2019 to join Kirby Smart’s staff and prior to this year took on the additional duty of assistant head coach. In addition to coaching safeties at Marshall in 2011 and 2012 and tight ends and special teams at Miami from 2016-18, he has also previously served as Georgia’s director of player personnel.
Under Hartley’s tutelage, Georgia has produced multiple tight ends that have made NFL rosters, but the unquestioned headliner of them all is Brock Bowers, Georgia’s leading receiver the past three seasons.
This year, Bowers’ 5.6 catches and 71 yards per game led all tight ends nationally. He has won the Mackey Award the past two seasons, given to the nation’s top tight end.
Even when Bowers was sidelined earlier this year with an ankle injury, the depth of Georgia’s tight end group led by Hartley was on strong display with Oscar Delp catching 21 passes for 253 yards.
