Michigan State football: What caused Keon Coleman to leave?

Michigan State star wide receiver Keon Coleman is in the NCAA transfer portal. But why did he choose to leave?

We all know that star Michigan State receiver Keon Coleman recently entered the transfer portal.

But… why?

Well, as I see it, there’s only a couple of options on the table. Let’s dig into it a little deeper.

Option 1: He wanted a change of scenery

It doesn’t seem remotely out of the realm of possibility that Coleman simply wanted a change of scenery. After all, consider how frustrated fans were merely watching the Spartans last season. It seems reasonable to conclude that the players could be experiencing similar emotions.

In 2022, the play-calling was decidedly iffy, the quarterback play was less than ideal, and the team wasn’t winning games. A lot of the time, athletes enter the portal because they’re just looking for a change of pace and a new opportunity.

If Coleman was frustrated with the program or simply not enjoying his time there, it seems plausible he could be looking to take his talents elsewhere for that reason.

Option 2: Outside factors

I’ll make it clear that when I say “outside factors” I mean NIL. The term stands for “Name, Image, and Likeness” and is functionally a legal way to pay athletes to come to a school. Nothing has been confirmed, but there definitely were some rumblings that Coleman’s exit was related to NIL — they have since been refuted.

Paying players to transfer in is rampant in today’s college football world, so it’s not crazy to imagine that a receiver-needy program could offer Coleman a lot of money for his services. One could hardly blame him for taking it if so. Fans hate to see players leave, but faced with the amount of money these players often get, most of us would admittedly do the same. Interestingly, the only program that he’s been confirmed to be visiting so far is Florida State — such a program could definitely make Coleman a compelling offer.

Again, at this point, all of this is speculation, but we’ve seen this exact scenario play out over and over at other schools – there’s no reason it couldn’t happen here.

So, which is it?

Your guess is as good as mine.

Stay tuned.