The transfer portal announcements are coming at a much more rapid pace this week after new Michigan State football coach Pat Fitzgerald has met with each player.
We’ve seen some key players like Makhi Frazier, Gavin Broscious, and Nick Marsh announce that they’ll be entering the transfer portal, and also some depth pieces like Jeremiah Hughes, Justin Denson Jr., and Semaj Bridgeman are also leaving.
On Thursday afternoon, Michigan State lost another key player to the portal.
Darius Snow announced that he will be looking to get another year of eligibility elsewhere, intending to hit the transfer portal this offseason (again). He has hit the portal before only to announce a return after Jonathan Smith was hired, and now he’s entering again with another coaching change.
You really can’t blame Snow for wanting a stable destination for potentially one last collegiate football season (assuming he gets a waiver) seeing as he committed to Mark Dantonio, played for Mel Tucker, then gave Smith a chance, too. He wasn’t about to have his fourth head coach at one destination — he’s looking for a place where he can build some draft stock (or at least get some eyes on him).
Snow and Bridgeman are currently the only two linebackers in the transfer portal from Michigan State as Fitzgerald is getting Brady Pretzlaff back and he’s still awaiting word from Jordan Hall.
LB room still improving despite Darius Snow departure
Despite losing Snow and 2025 fall camp star Semaj Bridgeman, Michigan State’s linebacker room looks like it’s only going to get better in 2026.
Not only are the Spartans bringing Pretzlaff back, and presumably a guy like DeJae White (the No. 1 linebacker recruit in Michigan for 2025), and potentially Hall, but they just hired one of the rising stars in the coaching ranks in Max Bullough, a Michigan State linebacker legend, to coach the group. This is a heck of an upgrade at linebackers coach.
So while the depth did take a bit of a hit, these were a couple of guys who didn’t have a major impact over the past couple of seasons. Michigan State will be just fine without them.
It does hurt to see a legacy like Snow leave even if he might not have any eligibility left.