Former Michigan State football QB1 has transferred to Eastern Michigan

A familiar face is back in Michigan with another in-state program. That’s right, former Michigan State football starter Noah Kim entered the transfer portal early in December and then committed to a school in Michigan (again) this past weekend.

Kim, a starter for a few games in 2023, entered the portal following that season when Mel Tucker was fired and decided to compete for the starting job at Coastal Carolina. Unfortunately, he earned the role of backup and finished his lone season with the Chanticleers with 333 yards and four touchdowns on 54 percent completions.

After entering the portal a month ago, he finally settled on a new home: Eastern Michigan.

COMMITTED! All Glory to God! #LastRide @Coach_Creighton @EMUFB 💚 pic.twitter.com/8ZhedfHCno

— Noah Kim (@noah_kim12) January 6, 2025

Kim will be back in the state playing for the Eagles next season. This will be the final stop in his college football journey as he’s a senior and has exhausted the rest of his eligibility.

Fortunately for Kim, he’s looking like the favorite to start for the Eagles after Cole Snyder graduates. He started the last seasons for Eastern and Buffalo after transferring from Rutgers (then to Buffalo for two years and then EMU), totaling over 5,700 passing yards and 46 touchdowns in those three years. He never completed more than 60 percent of his passes, so if Kim can put up similar numbers (2,684 yards, 15 touchdowns, 9 interceptions) in 2025, the Eagles should be in good shape. Kim just needs to improve his completion rate which dipped a bit over the past couple of years.

It’s been interesting to follow the careers of former Michigan State quarterbacks who transferred as a couple of them have found a ton of success.

Katin Houser took over the starting job at East Carolina mid-year and finished with 2,006 yards and 18 touchdowns while leading the Pirates to a Military Bowl win over NC State. His fellow backup to start the 2023 season, Sam Leavitt, won the starting job at Arizona State over a former five-star and led the Sun Devils to the College Football Playoff this season. Lastly, Payton Thorne spent the past two seasons as Auburn’s starter and had one of the best seasons of his career in 2024, passing for 2,713 yards and 21 touchdowns with a 63 percent completion rate.

Former Michigan State football quarterbacks are excelling. Now it’s time for our own to become stars.