ANALYSIS: Bleak Sunday grows darker for Michigan State as Charles Brantley enters transfer portal
East Lansing, Mich. – At Michigan State, the transfer portal seemingly used to be reserved largely for second-stringers, deep-bench reserves, malcontents or players who didn’t figure into the coaching staff’s long term plans.
But that notion changed on Sunday – and accelerated Sunday evening – when Charles Brantley entered the transfer portal.
Brantley joined starting quarterback Payton Thorne and standout wide receiver Keon Coleman in the portal. Thorne’s and Coleman’s entries into the portal were revealed Sunday afternoon.
Brantley (6-0, 170, Jr., Sarasota, Fla.) started in 11 games for Michigan State last year as a true sophomore, missing only the season finale at Penn State due to injury.
Brantley sat out spring practice while recovering from the upper body injury which sidelined him at the end of the 2022 season.
None of the three released their information with a formal statement or a social media post. A source tells SpartanMag.com that Michigan State is working to keep all of them in the program.
COMP’S TAKE: WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR MICHIGAN STATE?
Outsiders and insiders might be understanding of a player’s interest in finding out what his value is on the open transfer portal market. But you have to wonder about the internal culture of the program when these fact-finding missions become multiple.
Former starters have transferred before, but the coaching staff has been willing to let them go while cultivating others. This is the first time Michigan State has had established starters and standouts of this magnitude delve into the transfer portal.
As for developing and maintaining proper culture within a program, that is becoming a challenge everywhere.
More than 3,000 players entered the transfer portal during the 2021-22 cycle. According to SportSource Analytics, 20.9 percent of FBS starters were transfers in 2022, doubling the 10.7 percent of two seasons ago.
“Your culture is changing every year and there’s almost too much chaos to it,” a personnel director of a Power Five school told ESPN.com in November.
Sunday had already developed into a concerning, if not disturbing, day for Michigan State football. The Brantley news added to it.
If all three end up leaving the program, the last day of April in 2023 will likely be remembered as one of the bleakest days in spring football history for Michigan State. But with the way the transfer portal era is evolving, there could be more bleak spring days like this for many programs in the years to come.
MICHIGAN STATE’S CORNERBACK PICTURE
Coming out of the spring practice season, SpartanMag projected Brantley and Dillon Tatum (5-11, 200, Soph., West Bloomfield, Mich.) as the likely cornerback starters for 2023.
Brantley is of slight build but he was arguably Michigan State’s best cornerback a year ago. He’s a willful hitter and seemed to have a bright future as a likely three-year starter with the Spartans.
As a true freshman in 2021, Brantley’s leaping, one-handed interception cinched Michigan State’s upset victory over Michigan.
In 2022, Brantley had a 32-yard interception return for a touchdown against Ohio State.
Tatum was pressed into starting duty for the final game of the 2022 season after Brantley went down with an injury.
Georgia transfer Ameer Speed started 11 of Michigan State’s 12 games at cornerback. He lost his starting job in week 10 to Alabama transfer Ronald Williams. Williams started most of the 2021 season but had a reduced role in 2022.
Williams and Speed are out of eligibility. Despite a mediocre season, Speed was selected in the sixth round of the NFL Draft by the New England Patriots on Saturday.
Caleb Coley, Marqui Lowery and Justin White are expected to be top contenders in the two-deep for Michigan State at fall camp.
Coley (6-0, 180, R-Fr., Warner Robins, Ga.) is regarded as a rising talent on the defense. He played five snaps in the season opener against Akron last year but was later lost to injury and was able to preserve redshirt status.
Lowery (6-0, 180, Charlotte, N.C.) transferred to Michigan State from Louisville prior to the 2021 season. He saw action in seven games in 2021, logging 223 snaps.
Lowery started two games for Michigan State in 2021, against Pitt in the Peach Bowl and against Ohio State.
Lowery and Brantley were easily considered the hardest hitters among Michigan State cornerbacks over the past two years.
Lowery saw action in only five games in 2022. His time was reduced due to an undisclosed injury. However, he was healthy during the spring and made an impression with newly-hired cornerbacks coach Jim Salgado.
At 5-8, 180, White – a former walk-on – is one of the quickest players on the team. He started one game at cornerback last year, against Minnesota. And he played 57 snaps in an emergency role against Ohio State after spot starter Jaden Mangham went down with an injury.
White played 161 snaps on defense last year, all as an emergency fill-in. However, he had a productive spring appears to be in line to battle for a spot in the two-deep in 2023.
In December, Michigan State added cornerback Semar Melvin from the transfer portal. He spent four years at Wisconsin. He redshirted in 2019, played three games in 2020 and eight games in 2021. In 2022, he saw action in eight games and had six tackles.
Melvin has played 321 snaps on defense in his career, but was never able to win the starting job at Wisconsin.
True freshman Chance Rucker enrolled at mid-year and participated in spring practice but was slowed by a minor injury.
Incoming freshmen Eddie Pleasant (5-11, 175, Tampa) and Phillipp Davis (6-3, 180, Lake Wales, Fla.) will enroll this summer.
Khary Crump (6-0, 180, R-Jr., Los Angeles) is suspended by the Big Ten for the first eight games of the season for his involvement in the stadium tunnel fight with Michigan players in Ann Arbor last year.
WEIGHING THE POTENTIAL IMPACT
Michigan State is desperately trying to reverse a trend of poor play on defense, especially in the secondary. Michigan State has ranked outside of the national Top 100 in total defense in each of the past two years. Last year, injuries and suspensions caused Michigan State to start 27 different individuals on the defensive side of the ball.
For a defense working to regain regional and national respect, the prospect of losing its best and most experienced cornerback, Brantley, would be damaging.
Michigan State needs all the talent and competition it can get in the secondary. Brantley’s level of experience and competitiveness would be missed, if he ends up transferring to another school.
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