Michigan State’s special teams took a massive hit with a surprising transfer

Earlier this offseason, Michigan State got the unfortunate news that Ryan Eckley would be leaving East Lansing a year early to pursue an NFL career.

That news hit the special teams like a chunk of ice to the face in a snowball fight, but Pat Fitzgerald quickly made it right, hiring Iowa special teams coordinator LeVar Woods away from his alma mater. This was considered the best hire that Fitzgerald made but he had some serious work to do seeing as Michigan State’s special teams have been horrid for years.

Eckley was one of the lone bright spots.

Another bright spot has been Martin Connington. The freshman kicker followed Jonathan Smith to East Lansing after being committed to Oregon State, and he got an opportunity to win the starting job in 2025. He did just that.

Connington converted on 12-of-16 attempts, making 11-of-12 from under 40 yards amid 1-of-4 from beyond 40. He was as solid as they come, and he was the perfect replacement for Jonathan Kim, especially as just a redshirt freshman.

Now, he’s on the move again as he shocked everyone with his transfer news on Tuesday.

This is yet another difficult pill to swallow because it looked like he was on track to become Michigan State‘s next great kicker.

Michigan State’s special teams are about to look very different

After having Eckley and Connington to rely heavily on in 2025, Michigan State will now be tasked with finding a new starting punter and starting kicker. This Connington news was unexpected, especially since it seemed like he was leaning toward a return.

Despite retweeting the news about the hiring of Woods as special teams coordinator, Connington sees himself competing elsewhere. As an Idaho native, he could opt to return closer to home, but this doesn’t feel like a homesick departure.

Still, he could decide to return out west where he’s more comfortable.

Connington is definitely going to be missed because it’s not easy to find reliable kickers nowadays. We saw what happened right before Michigan State landed Jonathan Kim — a kicker essentially decided the fate of the Spartans’ 2022 bowl hopes.

Let’s hope Woods has some tricks up his sleeve in the form of elite kickers and punters.