Early transfer portal notes on Michigan, MSU, CMU, EMU and WMU

The NCAA transfer portal period for football opened officially on Jan. 2, and has not relented since. 

The portal period, which ends on Jan. 16, is especially potent this time around as the NCAA recently nixed a post-spring practice period for the transfer portal. That means the vast majority of player movements are going to go down within about a two week span, now at the beginning of January. And teams in the Mitten have not been exempt. 

Some are seeing far more change on the roster than others, as Michigan State has more than 40 players in the portal and Eastern Michigan isn’t far behind with more than 30. 

Then there’s Western Michigan, fresh off a MAC title and clearly doing all it can to retain and build continuity from a 10-win season. So far, WMU only has 10 players transferring out. And the most notable might be starting long snapper RJ Todd, who has since committed to play his final year at Oregon. 

But now that the transfer portal has had some time to simmer, here are some preliminary thoughts on the five teams. 

See Mitten Football’s transfer tracker here as we do our best to stay up on all the transfers — outgoing and incoming — for the five FBS teams in Michigan. 

Michigan State's roster teardown

With 43 players in the transfer portal as of Wednesday evening, per Mitten Football’s count, it’s looking like a tear-it-down-to-the-studs rebuild for Pat Fitzgerald and Co. as they settle in to Year 1 in East Lansing. 

It’s not surprising that the Spartans saw a mass exodus with a coaching change, but some of the names in the portal could likely be contributors or starters in 2026, from linemen like Stanton Ramil (Auburn) and Gavin Broscious (Iowa State) to obvious stars like Nick Marsh (Indiana). 

Someone like Marsh might’ve been a bridge too far to keep, as programs competing for the College Football Playoff came calling. But plenty of the Spartans in the portal could probably be retained if that’s what the staff desires — or desired. Evidently that’s not the case. It’s also unclear how many players were simply not receptive to another season at MSU. 

So far, just one of the players MSU had enter the portal, wideout Chrishon McCray, has withdrawn. 

The long and short is Michigan State is going to replace a significant chunk of the roster via the transfer portal, particularly when considering Fitzgerald signed 18 recruits in the early signing period. MSU will surely keep pushing in the high school ranks, but this team needs an infusion of talent that can play right away to have a shot at being competitive in 2026. 

Early returns in the portal indicate that the Spartans are hip to this reality. And the new staff has gone after a bevy of offensive linemen and secondary players early in this portal window. 

So far, MSU has commitments from three offensive linemen, including center Trent Fraley from North Dakota State, son of Detroit Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley. A quartet of defensive backs are also set to join MSU via the transfer portal, already. 

The recent addition of Ferris State quarterback Carson Gulker is intriguing, whether he pushes for reps at quarterback or gets deployed as a versatile offensive weapon. 

Western Michigan keeps the gang together

Western Michigan just won 10 games and the MAC title. Surely its having its roster picked over by Power 4 teams? 

Not on the watch of the current regime. 

On top of athletic director Dan Bartholomae moving to extend head coach Lance Taylor and then following that up with extensions for both coordinators, the Broncos have done remarkable work in keeping the core talent from the 2025 team in Kalamazoo. 

So far, MAC offensive player of the year and quarterback Broc Lowry along with star tailback Jalen Buckley have both been announced as returning for 2026. On defense, a trio of defensive backs — Josh Franklin, Jarvarius Sims and John Peters — have also been announced as returning. 

In a day and age where plenty of non-P4 teams get picked over and raided by higher-echelon programs, it’s a feat of the staff and front office for the Broncos to keep the key pieces of the roster together. 

So far, just 10 Western Michigan players have entered the portal, and of them the most productive in 2025 is RJ Todd, the starting longsnapper. Not a small loss, by any means. 

But it’s rare that a program like Western Michigan can ward off the poachers as it has. 

Michigan wins by not losing (players)

The news on Wednesday that sophomore linebacker Cole Sullivan would not return and had committed to Oklahoma stung, but is soothed by the returns of three other key Wolverines: Defensive back Zeke Berry and offensive linemen Andrew Sprague and Jake Guarnera. 

Those three all started for Michigan in 2025, with Berry bouncing between outside corner and the nickel, mostly, while Guarnera and Sprague held down the right side of the offensive line at guard and tackle, respectively. 

All three entered the portal with a new staff in Ann Arbor, and all three have since withdrawn and will play for Kyle Whittingham and Co. in 2026. 

Put that on top of the Wolverines keeping a handful of key, young players out of the portal altogether — QB Bryce Underwood, WR Andrew Marsh and RB Jordan Marshall are all slated to be back, and RB Justice Haynes is weighing a return instead of turning pro — and the outlook for 2026 is solid. 

The Wolverines do have a solid chunk of players transferring out, still, with 18 in the portal by Mitten Football’s count. And the biggest losses amongst that group are a number of young players with promise to be future contributors. 

Players like OL Kaden Strayhorn (Alabama), Jasper Parker (Arkansas) and Elijah Dotson (uncommitted) seemed poised to develop and contend for bigger roles in 2026 or beyond, are out the door. 

But the Wolverines largely held together the 2026 signing class and Whittingham and his staff have yet to go on the offensive in the portal this cycle. Some late additions for the Wolverines could be in store. 

Central Michigan embracing trench warfare

Head coach Matt Drinkall and his staff overachieved with a roster they held together from the previous staff, largely, in 2025. But with a full recruiting cycle and now a second crack at the transfer portal, the Chippewas can really shift the roster and tailor it to the head man’s liking. 

And the former Army offensive line coach clearly has a type, as the Chippewas have been unafraid at addressing both lines of scrimmage. 

The Chippewas signed seven offensive linemen and five defensive linemen in December around signing day and have already gotten commitments from three linemen out of the portal: Edge Hunter Zirkle (Cumberlands), OL Nic Disanto (Eastern Illinois) and DL Max Van Fleet (Cornell). 

Disanto is from Wyandotte, Michigan, originally and is moving closer to home. And the Chippewas are eying a few other players along the lines of scrimmage in this portal period. 

The fourth transfer that CMU has signed so far is DB Ty Williams (Butte College), bringing in a tall, rangy defender on the backend. That also fits with a trend in CMU’s recruiting: Size. 

Just one player in the December signing class measured under 6-feet tall, and Williams measures in at 6-foot-2. 

CMU has also seen a few notable contributors from the 2025 team depart — defensive backs Kalen Carroll and Brandon Deasfernandes, wideout Tyson Davis, tight end Decorion Temple — but did manage to pull wide receiver Langston Lewis out of the portal. 

He led the Chippewas in receiving in 2025 and should be part of an effective 1-2 punch with WR Tommy McIntosh in 2026. 

Eastern Michigan’s roster reset — outside of QB

The Eagles have more than 30 players in the portal or planning to transfer out, as of Wednesday evening, per Mitten Football’s tally. 

That could be a crisis, but after inking more than 30 players in the December signing period, it’s not hard to connect the dots on EMU reshuffling the roster after a disappointing pair of seasons. 

The biggest area that Eastern Michigan can improve from 2025 to 2026 is on defense, as that unit, plagued by missed tackles and a shoddy run defense, is getting a big infusion of new talent and will be under new co-coordinators this coming fall. 

All told, the Eagles roster is going to be a bit younger and certainly much different from 2025, as they seek to avoid going three-straight seasons without a bowl berth. 

And the biggest win for EMU, similar to Michigan and WMU, is in who they kept. The Eagles got a waiver of eligibility for quarterback Noah Kim, as the NCAA is allowing him a seventh year, meaning he’s set to start for a second year for EMU come 2026. 

Kim won the starting job and led the MAC in passing for the Eagles in 2025.