Michigan State Football: Ranking the top transfers for 2021 season
By Ryan Kay
Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker has made bringing in transfers the main priority for his football program. The NCAA’s recent decision that transfers who are transferring for the first time is Immediately eligible to play this upcoming season has made many players enter the transfer portal this offseason.
The 2020 Spartan team in a shortened season saw more ups than downs but there were positives from last season that show that this new coaching staff technically in year two, have the Michigan State football program heading in the right direction.
Last season showed that there was a need to add players through the transfer portal. After a devasting and disappointing home and season-opening loss to Rutgers, the Spartans had an impressive victory over their archrival. In Michigan State’s victory over Michigan, the Spartan fanbase saw hope through the vision of the Michigan State’s coaching staff. It was a very well-executed game plan that allowed the Spartans to play well on both sides of the ball and upset the top 15 ranked Wolverines on their home field.
However, in the following two games, it was evident that Michigan State did not necessarily have the personal to compete with the top teams in the Big Ten.
The Spartans were easily defeated by Iowa and Indiana where they were outscored by a combined score of 69-7. However, the Michigan State coaching staff, as they did against Michigan, put forth an excellent game plan against previously undefeated Northwestern. In a late November afternoon, the Spartans came out and executed against the No. 8 ranked Wildcats. The Michigan State coaching staff seemed to have an answer for every counter punch that Northwestern threw at the Spartans that game. Michigan State came away with an upset victory over the Wildcats which reaffirmed confidence in the coaching staff moving forward.
The last two games of the season did not go as planned but COVID-19 issues and injuries played a role in the play of the team as a whole. There were some positives, however, as Payton Thorne showed flashes especially with his ability to run and be a dual-threat quarterback. Against Penn State, the Spartans played well in the first half as they led the Nittany Lions on the road by a halftime score of 21-10. However, the depth of Penn State was too much for the Spartans in the second half and Michigan State ended up losing.
The game showed that the Spartans needed more depth and impact players at key positions and the coaching staff addressed those issues in the transfer portal.
Let’s first take a look at the players who transferred out and those players who have announced that they transferred to Michigan State but have not yet officially enrolled or participated in the spring football game.