QB Nichol returns home, transfers to MSU
Nichol
Keith Nichol pledged to play football for MSU in 2006 when he was a senior at Lowell High School.
The 19-year-old quarterback took an unconventional route, but he’s finally found his way to East Lansing.
After spending his freshman year as the third-string quarterback for Oklahoma, Nichol will transfer to MSU, he told The State News on Tuesday.
“MSU has always been my home,” Nichol said. “I’ve been an MSU fan my whole life, and it came down to being close to home and playing for coach (Mark) Dantonio.”
Nichol verbally committed to MSU when he was in high school, but when former head coach John L. Smith was fired, he decided to pursue other schools.
Nichol wanted to play for Smith’s spread offense. When Dantonio was hired to implement his pro-style offense, Nichol retracted his commitment.
Nichol signed a letter of intent with Oklahoma, but saw little action behind star freshman quarterback Sam Bradford, who led the nation in pass efficiency last season.
“Me and Sam were neck-to-neck until the last few days of training camp,” Nichol said. “I didn’t feel like I did anything wrong there, he was just really good.”
Scout.com ranked Nichol as a four-star recruit and the 22nd best quarterback in the class of 2007. The site touted the 6-foot-2, 204-pound prospect as a good scrambler with great field vision who lacks elite arm strength.
In compliance with NCAA transfer rules, Nichol will have to sit out the entire 2008 season. When he returns, he’ll compete with current sophomores Nick Foles and Kirk Cousins, as well as 2009 verbal commitment Andrew Maxwell.
Nichol said he’s excited to become a part of the MSU tradition.
“I’m just excited about playing in front of the home crowd every week and being part of the Big Ten,” he said.
“I’m really excited for the whole experience.”
Published on Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Comments
argh
05/20/08 @ 11:00pm
I was really hoping he could take Hoyer’s place for this season…
darn. :(
jason
05/21/08 @ 11:05am
if it came down to “playing for coach (Mark) Dantonio,” why did he get out of his scholarship in the first place when we hired coach D? Let’s face it, the only reason he is coming here is because he had NO chance to start at Oklahoma…their qb is a stud and is in the same class as Nichol so the only chance he had was if Bradford left after his junior year. It’s all just sketchy to me. I hope he does well, and he is immediately the front runner to replace Hoyer next year, but he has a lot to prove before I recognize him as a Spartan.
knock it off
05/21/08 @ 12:21pm
quit hating on hoyer.
he was a good qb last year and with another off season under his belt, will be even better.
we don’t need people like you clogging message boards with negative connotations and unrealistic expectations.
FloridaSpartan
05/21/08 @ 1:43pm
All Nichol has to prove is that he can get us W’s and win a bowl game, preferably against an SEC team.
yo dude
05/22/08 @ 1:50am
knock it off, i agree somewhat with you that people should not hate on hoyer so much. however, i don’t think i’d classify what he did last year under “good qb.” overall he was solid and i would give you that he generally helped us more than hurt us. i would point out though that where players are judged, the bowl games, he absolutely killed us. and again, i do agree with you on your other point, that he will be better next year. i would think realistically though, not to say you didn’t, and say that i don’t think he will be much better, but will perhaps handle the pressure of big games with a little more presence and fortitude. overall, you’re right, people shouldn’t hate on him, he’s going to do just fine and get us wins. if you want to complain about something about our football team, hoyer is probably pretty far down the list.
knock it off
05/22/08 @ 5:35pm
well said.
although i would challenge people to look at more than simply one game as the measuring point of players. those are big games. and these are young kids.
they’re not all going to put in vince young type performances in the spotlight. granted, you hope they don’t hurt you… but let’s be more realistic without getting on these boards and crucifying a kid who, like you said, should be pretty far down the list.
good points, though.