Another domino has fallen in East Lansing, and this time it’s along the offensive line. Right tackle Ashton Lepo is officially headed to the transfer portal, becoming the latest Michigan State player to explore new opportunities amid a wave of roster turnover.
Lepo, a towering 6-foot-7, 316-pound tackle out of Grand Haven, had been with the Spartans for three seasons and still has two years of NCAA eligibility remaining. He arrived in 2022 as a four-star recruit under then-head coach Mel Tucker, redshirting his first year before seeing most of his early action on special teams in 2023. But it was the back half of that season when Lepo started to turn heads, logging significant snaps at left tackle over the final four games-a stretch that helped him earn the starting job at right tackle for the full 2024 campaign.
Fast forward to 2025, and things didn’t go quite as planned. Lepo entered the season in a position battle with FCS transfer Conner Moore, ultimately losing out on the starting right tackle job.
Injuries on the line, including one to left tackle Stanton Ramil, gave Lepo another shot midseason, including starts against Nebraska and UCLA. But the results were mixed, and he struggled to find his footing.
A season-ending injury sidelined him for the final six games, closing the book on a year that never quite clicked.
Lepo’s exit is part of a much larger exodus from Michigan State’s roster. Over the past 48 hours alone, 14 players have entered the transfer portal-including seven offensive linemen. It’s a significant shake-up that comes just days before the portal officially opens, as players weigh their futures under a new coaching regime.
That new regime is led by Pat Fitzgerald, the longtime Northwestern head coach who took over the Spartans program on December 1. Fitzgerald replaces Jonathan Smith, who was let go after a rough two-year stretch that saw Michigan State go 5-19 overall and just 4-14 in Big Ten play.
One of Fitzgerald’s first key hires was offensive line coach Nick Tabacca, a 44-year-old veteran who most recently coached at Wake Forest. Tabacca has some familiarity with the Spartans’ personnel-he coached center Matt Gulbin, one of Michigan State’s most consistent linemen in 2024. Gulbin was a rock in the middle, grading out as one of the top centers in the country on Pro Football Focus before suffering an injury in the season finale against Maryland.
With Lepo now gone, the Spartans’ offensive line room is suddenly thin. Only seven scholarship linemen remain: left tackles Stanton Ramil and Rustin Young, right guards Luka Vincic and Rakeem Johnson, center Antonio Johnson, right tackle Conner Moore, and reserve interior lineman Drew Nichols. That’s not a lot of depth for a Big Ten program, especially one trying to rebuild under a new staff.
And it’s not just the offensive line feeling the effects. As of Thursday, a staggering 33 Michigan State players have entered the portal. The list includes starting quarterback Aidan Chiles and backup Ryland Jessee, as well as a trio of wide receivers-Nick Marsh, Chrishon McCray, and Evan Boyd-who were expected to be key contributors moving forward.
Tight ends Michael Masunas and Wyatt Hook, running back Makhi Frazier, and a slew of linemen-Gavin Broscious, Kristian Phillips, Rashawn Rogers, Cole Dellinger, Justin Bell, Payton Stewart, and the Luniewski twins, Mercer and Charlton-are also on the move.
Defensively, the Spartans are losing veteran linebacker Darius Snow, along with young talents Semaj Bridgeman and Marcellius Pulliam. Edge rushers David Santiago, Stone Chaney, and Tyler Gillison have also entered the portal, as has defensive lineman Jalen Thompson. Even special teams has taken a hit, with long snapper Kaden Schickel and kicker Connington joining the exodus.
It’s a full-blown roster reset in East Lansing. For Fitzgerald and his staff, the challenge now is twofold: stabilize the current roster and aggressively hit the portal themselves to replenish talent. The Spartans have been here before, but the scale of this turnover feels different-more sweeping, more urgent.
As for Ashton Lepo, he’ll look to get healthy and find a fresh start elsewhere. He’s got size, experience, and two years of eligibility-plenty of reasons for other programs to come calling.