The Michigan State football team finished up a disappointing 2023 campaign on Friday night as they lost 42-0 against Penn State football at Ford Field in Detroit. The Spartans finished the year 4-8 (2-7), and after head coach Mel Tucker was fired earlier this season, Michigan State announced the hiring of their new head coach on Saturday. Jonathan Smith will coach the Spartans next season, and he is going to have his work cut out for him as he has been greeted with a lot of transfer portal departures.
After a rough couple of years for the Michigan State football team, new head coach Jonathan Smith will have his hands full next season. One of the biggest hurdles that he will have to overcome is the quarterback position. News surfaced on Tuesday that Noah Kim is entering the transfer portal, and that means that all three QBs for the Spartans are planning to transfer, according to a tweet from Nicole Auerbach.
To make matters even worse for Michigan State, the Spartans found out later in the day that guard/center Geno VanDeMark is also planning on entering the transfer portal, according to a tweet from Pete Thamel. Smith is going to have to do a lot of work to get a competitive roster ready for the 2024 season.
It's hard to believe where the Spartans are after the spot they were in just two years ago. It looked like Michigan State had hit a home run with their Mel Tucker hire as he beat Michigan and led the Spartans to an 11-2 finish in 2021 that included a New Years Six bowl win. Tucker signed a massive contract after that season for $95 million over 10 years, but the 2022 season showed that his success was likely a fluke.
Michigan State took a major step back in 2022 after entering the season with high expectations, and things only got worse in 2023. Tucker was fired earlier this year due to sexual assault allegations, and the Spartans limped through the rest of the season after that. The Smith hire seems like a good pick up, but he has a lot of rebuilding to do.
The good news for Michigan State football in terms of the portal departures is that it goes both ways. The Spartans are going to lose a lot, but Smith will also be able to go into the portal and try to build something in East Lansing with a lot of fresh talent. He has a tall mountain to climb, and it will be interesting to see how he fares with Michigan State.
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