Coming off an appearance in the College Football Playoff, the relative calm Michigan State experienced this offseason has come to an abrupt end.
In a tersely-worded, to-the-point press release sent out late Monday night, MSU announced that sophomore defensive lineman Craig Evans (pictured) and sophomore defensive end Montez Sweat have left the football team for personal reasons. The twin departures were deemed effective immediately in an announcement attributed to head coach Mark Dantonio.
Both Evans and Sweat had been expected to play significant roles in the Spartans’ defensive line rotation this upcoming season, a rotation already in need of replacing productive veterans lost to graduation.
In 2015, Evans, a four-star recruit in 2014 who took a redshirt that season, played in all 14 games and saw his name litter numerous Freshman All-American squads. Sweat, at the start of spring practice this year, had come off a suspension that dated back to early in the 2015 season.
The Spartans will close out spring practice this coming Saturday.