EAST LANSING, Mich—Mel Tucker and the Michigan State Spartans lost their third and fourth players since the conclusion of the 2021 season to the transfer portal as backup kicker Evan Johnson and backup long snapper Nick Chudler announced their intentions to seek other opportunities on Thursday afternoon. 

Johnson, a local product from Holt High School, had just wrapped up his first season as a Spartan. This news comes after Johnson made his MSU debut this past Saturday against Penn State, where he went 1-for-2 on PAT attempts. 

Johnson joined the MSU roster as a preferred walk-on this fall after transferring from Hope (MI) College. In his only season at Hope, Johnson was 6-for-7 on field goal attempts, converting a long of 37 yards. He was also 42-for-47 on extra point attempts in his 10 games and scored a total of 60 points. 

Graduate senior kicker Matt Coghlin is out of eligibility at the conclusion of the season, but the Spartans are set to bring in three-star kicker Jack Stone, a native of Highland Park, Texas. 247Sports rates Stone as the No. 5 kicker in the 2022 recruiting class.

Chudler, a preferred walk-on who joined the team in September of 2018, played high school ball at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and never appeared in a game for MSU. He, like Johnson, was facing an uphill battle for playing time as freshman long snapper Hank Pepper started in all 12 games this season.