Football 1/10/2022 10:33:00 AM TSU Sports Information
The 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship will have a Texas Southern flavor as a pair of former TSU football standouts in Cortez Hankton and Mark Orphey will coach against each other Monday night.
Hankton currently serves as the wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator at the University of Georgia. A 2002 TSU graduate, Hankton ranks as one of the top receivers in TSU football history as the New Orleans, La. native was a two-time All-SWAC honoree in 2001 and 2002. Hankton is the all-time leader in receiving yards (3,400) and second in touchdowns all-time (30). He also ranks third with 175 career receptions and he currently holds the school record for longest pass play (99 yards).
After graduating from TSU, Hankton spent six years in the NFL and three seasons with the United Football League. He entered the coaching ranks on the high school level before making a rapid ascension up the ladder with stints at Dartmouth, Vanderbilt and Georgia.
Orphey serves as a defensive analyst at the University of Alabama. A Houston native and 2010 graduate, Orphey played cornerback at TSU from 2007-10 and was a part of a major rebuild as he endured a winless freshman campaign to a SWAC Champion as a senior in 2010. He was a three-year starter as he played in a secondary which ranked amongst the nation’s best during his junior and senior seasons.
He remained at TSU after graduation and assisted with the cornerbacks in 2011 and 2012 before moving to the SEC as a quality control and graduate assistant coach at South Carolina from 2013-16. Upon graduating from South Carolina, Orphey was named cornerbacks coach at Montana State in 2017 before moving on to Utah State in 2019. He spent two seasons at Utah State before accepting the role of defensive analyst at Alabama in March of 2021.
Courtesy: TSUSports.com