Michigan State is adding to its future special teams through the portal.
Kaden Schickel, a redshirt sophomore long snapper from James Madison, announced his transfer commitment to the Spartans via social media on Tuesday. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Schickel is sixth transfer to commit to new coach Jonathan Smith this month along with quarterback Aidan Chiles (Oregon State), tight end Jack Velling (Oregon State), wide receiver TJ Sheffield (Purdue), linebacker Jordan Turner (Wisconsin) and defensive end Quindarius Dunnigan (Middle Tennessee State).
Schickel, 6-foot-2 and 196 pounds, is a Virginia native who arrived at James Madison in 2021 and didn’t play his first two seasons. He started all 13 games this season and had two tackles and a fumble recovery.
Hank Pepper, a three-year starting long snapper for the Spartans, left the team four games into this season to enter the portal when it opened after coach Mel Tucker was fired. He is transferring to USC.
With Pepper gone, JUCO transfer addition Drew Wilson and walk-on linebacker Sam Edwards split long snapping duties for Michigan State the final eight games of the year and both have eligibility remaining. The Spartans are set to return punter Ryan Eckley, who was named second team All-Big Ten this season, and kicker Jonathan Kim, who made 13 of 18 field goals with a long of 58 yards and three misses from at least 50 yards.
Leave a Reply