Advertisement
Advertisement
Published May 2, 2023
Rico Beard: The state of Michigan State Football
circle avatar
Brendan Moore  •  Spartans Illustrated
Staff Writer
Twitter
@bmoorecfb

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portal entrants — quarterback Payton Thorne, wide receiver Keon Coleman and cornerback Charles Brantley, who has since withdrawn his name from the portal — on his podcast, "The 5 Star Zone.”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).

Advertisement
info icon
Embed content not availableManage privacy settings

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.”

Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and discuss it in our premium forums by clicking here.

Spotify link:

info icon
Embed content not availableManage privacy settings

Apple Podcasts: 5 Star Zone with Rico Beard and Howard Griffith: The Sky Isn't Falling At Michigan State on Apple Podcasts

You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

For video content, including our Red Cedar Radar podcast, find us on YouTube and consider subscribing.

MichiganState
FOOTBALL
Scores / Schedule
footballfootball
8 - 2
Overall Record
2 - 0
Conference Record
Finished
FINAL - Sat 12/07
Michigan St.
89
Arrow
Michigan St.
Nebraska
52
Nebraska
FINAL - Thu 12/05
Minnesota
72
Minnesota
Michigan St.
90
Arrow
Michigan St.
FINAL - Thu 11/28
N. Carolina
91
N. Carolina
Michigan St.
94
Arrow
Michigan St.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Michigan State
2025Commitment List
Updated: Dec 17, 2024 8:45 am
Advertisement