Michigan State football loses long snapper to the transfer portal

On Friday morning, Michigan State football long snapper Jack Carson-Wentz announced his decision to transfer. He thanked head coach Jonathan Smith, running backs coach Keith Bhonapha, and special teams analyst Joe Begnal in his transfer message.

Carson-Wentz was one of two long snappers the Spartans brought in last season, alongside Kaden Schickel. With the signing of Jack Wills, the No. 2 long snapper in the nation, on Wednesday, it became apparent there was a lot of traffic and bodies in the long snapper room.

Jack Carson-Wentz was a player who stepped up this season

Carson-Wentz started his career at Lenoir-Rhyne, before heading back to his home state, Georgia, and participating in spring practice for West Georgia. He elected to take his talents to East Lansing, where he provided instant meme-worthy material for his last name when cameras caught his jersey’s nameplate.

The walk-on was the depth long snapper for Michigan State football, and, in a season plagued by injuries, he became a starter. Kaden Schickel had a non-contact injury in the Battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy and was lost for the season. Within moments of the injury happening, Carson-Wentz was a guy who was getting warm on the sidelines during the media timeout. The only time that I observed the long snapper stopping his expedited warm ups was when he and the rest of the specialists went to wish Schickel the best before the starter was carted up the tunnel.

Carson-Wentz was called upon in the biggest Spartan game of the season to snap the ball on punts, and had no issues during the Michigan game. With Schickel officially out for the season, Carson-Wentz was the de facto starter, although the staff elected to use linebacker Sam Edwards for extra points. He handled the 17- or 18-yard punt snaps. He was relatively successful, although the Spartans had a punt blocked against Indiana and then a high snap get away from Ryan Eckley during the season finale when the game against Rutgers unraveled.

Unfortunately for Carson-Wentz, the walk-on saw the writing on the wall with an impending NCAA roster limit and two other long snappers on the roster outlook for 2025. He also becomes the second long snapper to transfer from MSU in two years, as Hank Pepper left MSU amidst last year’s turmoil.

Best of luck to Carson-Wentz, and may he make the best decision for himself.