Could Michigan State’s success in the transfer portal become a regular occurrence?

Coach Jonathan Smith faced a critical problem early in the offseason when he and the Michigan State football team simultaneously lost nearly 20 players to the transfer portal. Michigan State lost several core players during this mass exodus, leaving Coach Smith and his coaching staff even more behind than they originally thought.

Smith and his coaching staff had to quickly adjust their plans after losing so many good players at once. While every new coaching staff expects to lose players, Michigan State was one of the football programs most impacted by transfers earlier this offseason. Some experts even had the Spartans ranked as the worst team in the transfer portal at one point this offseason.

That was before the Spartans could fill the gaps left by the transfer portal with other talented players from other schools in the transfer portal. Like the players they were able to sign through the portal, Smith and his coaching staff knew that Michigan State is still a quality football program; it’s just a rebuilding program.

The holes left by the players leaving Michigan State made room for players who wanted to play for Smith. This allowed many talented and motivated players from other programs to come to East Lansing for a fresh start. Smith and his coaching staff would ultimately put together one of the better transfer portal classes that offseason. They went from one of the worst football programs in that year’s transfer portal class to one of the top 12 in the country.