Michigan State Football Top 30 Players Countdown: No. 3

Michigan State’s best corner wasn’t expected to be in this position again.

Charles Brantley entered the transfer portal following the 2024 season with only one year of eligibility left. He wound up going back to his home state of Florida to play for Miami. That certainly seemed like that was going to be that for both Brantley’s time at MSU. Well, he’s back now, and he’s No. 3 on my “top 30 players” list for the Spartans this fall.

How Brantley Returned to MSU

Brantley only appeared in three games with 31 defensive snaps during the 2025 season with the Hurricanes. It didn’t appear to be injury-related; Brantley just wasn’t a starter. Miami had Keionte Scott, who went in the fourth round of this year’s NFL Draft, got a breakout season from Wisconsin transfer Xavier Lucas, and also relied heavily on Washington State transfer Ethan O’Connor.

It’s tough to know if there are any deeper or behind-the-scenes reasons beyond that. Brantley wasn’t made available to the media during the spring, and he wasn’t one of the three players Michigan State brought to Big Ten Football Media Days in Chicago.

Regardless of why, Brantley hadn’t taken a traditional redshirt yet during his career. Since he was within the four-game limit, he kept his final year of eligibility.

One of the interesting parts of Brantley’s return is that he’ll be coming back to another head coach. Brantley played for Mel Tucker during the first three seasons of his career (2021-23), and then for Jonathan Smith in 2024. He’ll now wrap up his college career with a year with Pat Fitzgerald.

“We've got a picture up in the office of a pretty big play he's made in his history here, as all of our fans know," Fitzgerald said back in February in reference to his game-sealing pick against Michigan in 2021. "And I went, 'That's the guy?' Yeah, we'll take him. I love it."

Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi will be the constant for Brantley to lean on. Brantley will be known for his play in the ‘21 Michigan game, but the ‘24 season was the best year he’s had in his college career up to this point. That’s the only year Brantley has been coached by Rossi and been in his system.

Brantley’s 2024 Season, Rest of MSU Career

Brantley appeared in nine total games during the fall of 2024, missing the final three games of the year due to an injury. PFF grades aren’t the end-all, be-all way to evaluate defensive players, but Brantley finished 2024 with a 78.1 overall grade. The second-best grade he has gotten during his career, excluding his very short year at Miami last fall, was a 68.1 during his true freshman season.

PFF says Brantley only allowed 14 catches on 37 targets that season (37.8% completions) for 149 yards. He also intercepted three passes during the 2024 season without allowing a touchdown. One pick came against Maryland, another came against Prairie View A&M (that one being a 100-yard pick-six), and the third was against Oregon.

The big concern for Brantley will be his health. He hasn’t played every game in a season during his college career. The 2022 season was the closest Brantley got — he started the first 11 games of the year before missing the season finale. Brantley missed those three games in 2024, the final nine games of 2023, and the final four games of the 2021 season due to injuries.

Brantley’s overall experience is still absolutely substantial. He’s played a total of 1,495 defensive snaps across his five college seasons, including 792 snaps in pass coverage. A season that approaches the quality of play Brantley had two years ago is precisely the sort of thing the Spartans need.

Fitzgerald is also looking to deliver results quickly. Brantley was a real part of the success at MSU in the past during that 11-win ‘21 campaign in the locker room. Kenneth Walker III isn’t coming back, but just having someone who hasn’t just visualized success in East Lansing, but experienced it, could have a positive effect.

More on MSU’s Secondary

If (keyword: if) Brantley can keep himself in the lineup, the starting secondary for MSU could wind up being a real strength. Iowa State transfer Tre Bell’s college stock has risen drastically in the past two seasons, and he is being looked at as a potential breakout candidate for Michigan State this year, too. I had Bell at 10th on my list for the upcoming season.

Houston Christian transfer Tyran Chappell is probably the primary backup at corner. He was a First Team All-Southland Conference honoree last season, grabbing four interceptions. Last fall was also Chappell’s redshirt freshman season, so he’s transferring to Michigan State with three years of eligibility left.

Keeping Nikai Martinez on the back end is also huge. Last year was also supposed to be the final year of Martinez’s career, but, just like Brantley, he didn’t play any more than four games. Unlike Brantley, Martinez’s lack of appearances was injury-related.

There was a noticeable decline in secondary last season with Brantley gone and Martinez mostly out. The Spartans’ pass defense went from being ranked 46th (206.9 passing yards allowed per game) to 92nd (231.3 passing yards allowed per game). Opposing quarterbacks went from 7.3 yards per attempt to 7.6.

That 2024 secondary also achieved better numbers despite having an atrocious pass rush. MSU went six games in a row that year at one point without registering a single sack. The 2025 pass rush wasn’t even average, either, but it wasn’t no-sacks-in-six-games bad.

Michigan State’s starters in the secondary seem solid. Brantley is reliable when he’s healthy. Bell proved he can succeed at the Power Four level while at Iowa State last year, plus he’s still being coached by cornerbacks coach Hank Poteat. Martinez is an above-average Big Ten free safety. Maine transfer Devin Vaught also developed a knack for forcing turnovers at the FCS level, coming to MSU with six career interceptions in the last two seasons.

How Brantley Returned to MSU

Brantley’s 2024 Season, Rest of MSU Career

More on MSU’s Secondary

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