Michigan State Football: Gaoteote’s departure and potential pitfalls of transfer dependency

The best programs don’t build through the portal; they build through development

The portal, again, was great to us last year. It made sense to pursue players that could make an instant impact and the results were there to back it up. Gems, as previously mentioned, were all found through the portal and contributed to an outstanding team and season for the Spartans.

However, when you look at the longevity at the top of college football from the likes of Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Clemson, you don’t see many transfers out that wind up being top-of-the-class type recruits. The majority that decide to find new homes are roster guys, or depth players, that struggle to see or never see the light of day in the two-deep rotations for the team.

Players that don’t want to just see their hard work in the weight room or on the practice field result in pacing the sidelines on gameday. They find homes where they can make use of their talents on the field and showcase what they can do, even if that’s at a less prestigious program. In today’s day and age, the NFL is willing to look at talent at any size school if you have the measurables, intangibles, and tape to back it up.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule; this year more than ever when we watched the likes of Spencer Rattler transfer to South Carolina from Oklahoma, Quinn Ewers transfer to Texas from Ohio State, and Caleb Williams heading from Oklahoma to either LSU or USC.

This year, the top recruits from last year’s class being on the move, have been heavier than most. However, again, this is not typical that the prize recruits find another home from recruiting classes, especially those after their freshman year. Those are the players that teams want to hold on to, develop, and help them find the field in ways to engage them — even despite the fact that there may be better, more senior, players entrenched in front of them.

Take Michigan for instance, our arch-rival from across the state; they had Cade McNamara playing at a fairly high level all year. However, to ensure that J.J. McCarthy stayed engaged — and, more importantly, enrolled at the school — they gave him opportunities to play even in crunch time. Lucky for MSU, that crunch time paid off big time in favor of the Spartans when McCarthy made some costly mistakes that resulted in a big-time comeback win against the Wolverines.

However, because of those meaningful moments and plays McCarthy, even despite McNamara coming back in 2022, has stayed put because the value was placed on him. He was a prized recruit that Michigan is looking to develop and make a staple of the program, even when they have a starting-caliber player, like McNamara, in front of him for another year.