Rico Beard: The state of Michigan State Football
Rico Beard, a contributor to the Spartans Illustrated message board, shared his thoughts on the latest Michigan State transfer portal entrants — quarterback Payton Thorne, wide receiver Keon Coleman and cornerback Charles Brantley, who has since withdrawn his name from the portal — on his podcast, "The 5 Star Zone.”
The episode, titled "The Sky Isn't Falling At Michigan State," was released on Monday, May 1 before Brantley withdrew from the portal).
Beard, and his co-host Evan Jankens, addressed the transfer portal entries and how college sports are changing.
“If three people [are] your football program, you've got bigger problems,” Beard said. “This was not a Mel Tucker problem. This was a new college sports problem.”
Part of the new landscape in college sports is NIL as student-athletes are now allowed to earn money off of their name, image and likeness. Many players have used the transfer portal and the one-time penalty-free transfer rule to leverage the NIL money that they earn.
“You now have athletes who look at the coaches and say, ‘This is a business and how can I maximize my dollar each and every year?’” Beard said. “‘Just because I’m happy at this place year one doesn’t mean I’m gonna be there year two.’ You see guys who are transferring two, three times now because they’re looking for the best deal.”
Coleman was MSU’s leading receiver last season and was expected to take an even bigger step forward for the Spartans in 2023. That is impressive in and of itself, but it is all the more extraordinary given that second-round NFL Draft pick Jayden Reed was also in the wide receivers room last fall.
Beard mentioned that Coleman’s decision to enter the portal was “about the money” and that he is getting interest from some of the top programs in the country, such as LSU, Miami, Tennessee and USC.
“This was about the money,” Beard said about Coleman. “There’s really no other way to put it. It’s not like it’s a bad thing. It’s a business and some kids see this strictly as a business.”
Thorne was the starting quarterback for the Spartans the past two seasons. After an up-and-down campaign in 2022 that saw Thorne have his fair share of struggles, he found himself in a heated quarterback competition with redshirt junior Noah Kim and redshirt freshman Noah Kim.
"From my gathering and placing some phone calls, [Thorne] was going to win the job," Beard said.
Thorne's name has been linked to Auburn ever since he entered the portal on Sunday.
"The common theme with all three guys: they already had people working the back channels and saying, 'Hey, we got a sweet NIL deal for you.' And for Payton Thorne, [the other schools are saying] 'You [don't] got to worry about pesky Noah Kim. You're the guy. You're going to be our quarterback.' That's why you see his name attached to certain schools."
Beard went further and explained that April 30 --the day Brantley, Coleman and Thorne all entered the transfer portal -- will be seen as some sort of a turning point or possible judgment day for the Spartan football program.
“Right now everything looks bad,” Beard said. “I’m going to simply say this: circle April 30 because April 30 will either be the day that the program fell apart … or it’s the Mark Dantonio 'little brother' press conference.”
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Apple Podcasts: 5 Star Zone with Rico Beard and Howard Griffith: The Sky Isn't Falling At Michigan State on Apple Podcasts
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