Keon Coleman explains why he transferred from Michigan State football to Florida State

The dust has settled, and so too has Keon Coleman.

The former Michigan State football receiver has found new digs in Tallahassee, Florida, residing in an off-campus apartment that will be his new home for the next seven months, maybe a year or perhaps longer. The general feeling is Coleman’s recent move to Florida State will be merely temporary, a short layover on his way to the 2024 NFL draft. Or as he sees it, a necessary prelude for a defining year in his life.

“I mean that’s the plan for sure,” Coleman told the Free Press during an interview last week. “But that’s all up to God to make. He put me in this position to do what I need to do. He’s gonna take care of the rest. He’s got it all mapped out.”

To a large extent, Coleman does, too. He’s the one who made the shocking decision to enter the transfer portal April 30 and leave a program where he had emerged as its most talented player. The Spartans were banking on Coleman remaining their main offensive weapon and furthering his development as a go-to playmaker after he led MSU in catches, receiving yards and touchdowns from scrimmage last fall.

The departure of fellow receiver Jayden Reed, an NFL second-round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers, left Coleman as the unequivocal centerpiece on a team with a bunch of question marks elsewhere after it stumbled to a 5-7 record in 2022.

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For one, Coleman didn’t know who would throw him the ball. Head coach Mel Tucker opened spring practice by declaring his intentions to hold an open quarterback competition between the incumbent starter Payton Thorne and his backups, Noah Kim and Katin Houser. That decision seemed to trigger Thorne’s eventual transfer to Auburn while raising the ambiguity surrounding a depth chart lacking established contributors at other key skill positions. As the Spartans herked and jerked last season, Coleman watched opposing secondaries shade coverage toward Reed following the latter's breakout 2021 campaign. With defenses zeroing in on his teammate, Coleman was given more space to operate.

“That’s when Keon took advantage,” Reed said in March.

Case in point: The first half of a 29-7 loss Michigan, when the Wolverines began the night determined to stop Reed. Matched up with a lone defender on the outside, Coleman snagged four passes for 104 yards and a touchdown before the Wolverines revised their strategy, clamped down on him and squeezed the life out of the Spartans.

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The defensive adjustment U-M made in that game may have been a harbinger of what was to come for Coleman this season without the presence of Reed or another prolific receiver to serve as a counterweight. Freshman Germie Bernard, a former four-star recruit, left at the dawn of the offseason and part-time starter Tre Mosley had rarely been anything more than a tertiary option.

Referring to Coleman, Reed predicted, “They’re gonna bracket him next year.”

Coleman perhaps realized that, too.

“I don’t mind being the guy,” he said. “But I also don’t mind being the guy sharing the field with other guys. I have no pick. Schools know who you are. They know what you’re capable of. They’re gonna find a way to try to stop you regardless of where you’re at. As an overall team, I felt like (FSU) was the best spot for me. … I am a firm believer when you’re playing with the best, you find the best of yourself, too. The best players help bring the best out of each other.”

The Seminoles seemed a logical destination for Coleman, a Louisiana native. Before he landed at Michigan State, FSU had offered the former four-star prospect a scholarship out of high school. At the time, the Seminoles were in transition under a new regime following a precipitous decline.

Since then, they have experienced a rebirth to the point that multiple sportsbooks place Florida State among the top-10 teams with the best odds to win a national championship this season. There is good reason: Quarterback Jordan Travis is a Heisman Trophy contender and has been playing at the FBS level since 2018. Its receiving corps includes Johnny Wilson, an All-ACC selection. And its coach Mike Norvell is a former wideout who designed an offense he said has been “built for playmakers.”

Last fall, the Seminoles led their conference in scoring, averaging 36.1 points per game. With Coleman on board, it stands to reason that output could increase.

“I’m just coming in, trying to win games,” he said.

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Equipped with tantalizing athleticism, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Coleman should help that effort. He was so physically gifted he managed to earn a spot on Tom Izzo’s Spartans as a freshman after being recruited as a two-sport athlete. But Coleman soon recognized his future resided exclusively in football. So did the people who matter. One of the two major NFL scouting services recently gave Coleman a preliminary second-round draft grade. Some believe he could position himself to go even higher. An NFC team executive told the Free Press that he has Day 1 traits with the “size and measurables you look for in the NFL,” noting he has the unique ability to win contested catches.

For that reason, the loss of Coleman is a huge blow to both MSU and the inexperienced quarterback tasked with replacing Thorne.

“It was always going to be a hard decision, because of the memories you made there, the progress you made there,” Coleman said. “But you’ve got to keep the main (thing) the main thing, which is you have to do what’s best for you. … I felt the best opportunity for me was to find a new home.”

Coleman’s explanation offered a window into the realities of this new age in college football, where everything seems transactional and almost nothing is binding. The enactment of the one-time free transfer rule at around the same time as the advent of name, image and likeness legislation in 2021 created an environment where a rising star is incentivized to switch teams. Last year, it was Pittsburgh receiver Jordan Addison moving from Pittsburgh to USC. This spring it was Coleman leaving East Lansing for Tallahassee.

"I don’t think it’s anything that anyone should be surprised about," Tucker recently told reporters.

The transfer portal is a double-edge sword, after all. Tucker wielded it to his advantage, expediting a rapid rebuild that unfolded two years ago. Now, he has felt the brunt from its other side.

It seemed inevitable in many ways. Coleman signed with the Spartans during the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the travel restrictions placed on him during that period, he said he blindly picked MSU, hoping “it would be the best.” Coleman placed his faith in Tucker, calling him a “real, genuine person and straightforward.”

He says he loves Tucker but that affinity wasn’t enough to keep him in East Lansing. The NFL is his final destination, and he saw Florida State as a place that would fast-track his journey there.

“It’s about doing what’s best for you to put yourself in that best position to do that and take care of your family,” he said. “You’ve got to play the game how the game is being played at the time it is being played.”

It’s how a budding talent on one team ends up suiting up for another, helping to change the balance of power in a sport where the landscape is constantly shifting.

As Coleman, one of Tallahassee’s newest transplants, said, “It is what it is.”

Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @RainerSabin.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Keon Coleman explains why he transferred from Michigan State football