Michigan State football: Is it time to hit the panic button on the portal?

The transfer portal and Michigan State football have had an up-and-down relationship. When is it time to hit the panic button?

Quick 2023 Michigan State football recap:

• Sept. 27 – Mel Tucker fired
• October/November – Coaching search, extreme instability for student athletes
• Nov. 25 – Jonathan Smith hired
• Nov. 27 – 10 players and counting plan to hit the portal

When do we hit the panic button?

Spoiler alert: never.

This year has been one heck of a rollercoaster ride for Michigan State football and I’m afraid we’re still going. This week has been suffocated by transfer portal news not only out of East Lansing, but the entire country. Now technically the transfer portal doesn’t open until Dec. 4 but players have been announcing their intentions for when it does. Players entering as grad transfers are immediately eligible.

Here are the names (so far):

1. QB Katin Houser
2. QB Noah Kim
3. QB Sam Leavitt
4. OT Spencer Brown
5. WR Jaron Glover
6. WR Tyrell Henry
7. WR Christian Fitzpatrick
8. LB Darius Snow
9. DL Derrick Harmon
10. OL Kevin Wigenton
11. OL Ethan Boyd

We will likely see plenty more hit the portal and I am here to say that is OK. The only player I’m losing sleep over will be freshman linebacker Jordan Hall.

Here’s why you shouldn’t hit the panic button:

• It was the plan all along
  • It’s been reported by plenty of MSU insiders that the plan for most of the roster was to hit the portal once the season ended. Can you really blame them though? The majority of the coaching staff that brought them here is gone. At the end of the day, players are really committing to coaches vs. the school.
• Provides flexibility
  • Why wouldn’t these players hit the portal? The best way to get a raise is to go to another job, not asking your current employer for a raise. In the world of NIL, the portal is another negotiating chip to ensure you’re being paid what you’re worth. It also gives the players time to decide if they like the new coaching staff or not. Some (not all) of these guys will withdraw.
• Is the talent really there?
  • I’ve been hammering this point home in countless group chats of friends who think the sky is falling: this team just went 5-7 and 4-8, are we sure they have the talent to compete up to our expectations? Sure, a lot of blame can be put on the coaching staff but bringing back the whole roster and just inserting a new staff isn’t going to automatically make us contenders for the Big Ten.

The sky seems like it’s falling but I assure you it’s not.

Hayes Fawcett is earning his paycheck this week, that’s for sure.