ANN ARBOR, Mich. \u2014 Jaden Mangham says his 2024 decision to transfer from Michigan State to rival Michigan was centered around academics and a potential future in professional football.<\/p>\n
The former all-Big Ten safety, who spoke to reporters on Tuesday for the first time since arriving in Ann Arbor, viewed Michigan as providing \u201cthe best path to get to the league.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s Michigan,\u201d Mangham said. \u201cI was here on my visit and it was amazing. Talking to the coaches, coach (Sherrone) Moore, coach (Lamar) Morgan, they told me the truth, they told me everything they needed out of me and my plan for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
That plan was later derailed by injury, setting him back in preseason camp last summer and slowing his progress learning Wink Martindale\u2019s system. The decision was made to shut him down for the season last fall, paving the way for a fresh start in 2025.<\/p>\n
But seeing the field at Michigan has not been easy. In addition to injury, Mangham has taken lots of flak from MSU fans and former teammates for jumping ship, trading his green and white uniform for a maize and blue one. Transfers from one side of the heated rivalry to the other are not unheard of, but still uncommon. <\/p>\n
\u201cI knew it was going to be crazy, but you can\u2019t really think about stuff like that,\u201d Mangham said. \u201cAt the end of the day, it\u2019s a business. I knew what was going to come with it. I knew what people were going to say, but it didn\u2019t really matter at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Birmingham, Mich., native, Mangham was fully aware of the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry growing up. While starring as a two-way player at Groves High School, he had interest from both schools, but the Wolverines viewed him more as a wide receiver back then. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat was probably a little more reason why I chose Michigan State, because I was playing DB and felt like DB was giving me the best route to the NFL,\u201d Mangham said.<\/p>\n
![\"Colston](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2CULI55QQJCYTHNRZDSBJRILAY.jpg\")
Michigan tight end Colston Loveland (18) scores a touchdown against Michigan State defensive backs Jaden Mangham (1) and Dillon Tatum, second from left, during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, in East Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo\/Al Goldis)AP<\/p>\n
Mangham spent two seasons at MSU, appearing in 20 games while making 12 starts at free safety, even garnering all-Big Ten honorable mention honors in 2023. He was known as a ball disruptor, notching four interceptions and seven pass breakups as a sophomore, but felt like a change of scenery was required after MSU fired disgraced head coach Mel Tucker and brought in a new staff led by Jonathan Smith.<\/p>\n
He graduated from MSU in three years with a degree in communications, even attending the ceremony in December with a blue cap and his Michigan jersey nameplate embroidered on top. Images of Mangham in a green gown with the hat on and him forming an \u2018M\u2019 with his hands can be found on social media. \u201cMy girlfriend did it for me,\u201d Mangham said of the hat.<\/p>\n
Still, there\u2019s no love lost from Mangham, even as the chirping continues from the other side. He said only a few of his MSU teammates reached out when he entered the transfer portal in April 2024, making the opinions of those who cut ties with him invalid in his mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they\u2019re still upset, they can be upset,\u201d Mangham said. \u201cOnly really a couple of my guys reached out (and) talked to me about it. If you\u2019re upset about it and didn\u2019t reach out to me, I really don\u2019t see how that makes sense for you to be upset. Because you obviously didn\u2019t care enough when I entered the portal.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than a year later, Mangham is healthy again and a major contributor to the Michigan defense. He got the start safety Saturday against Oklahoma, notching four tackles and aided in a sack on quarterback John Mateer. Since arriving in Ann Arbor, Mangham says his tackling has drastically improved under the watchful eye of the Michigan coaching staff. \u201cI feel like I gave up a lot of plays while I was at MSU, a lot of bad angles, a lot of bad eyes,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
He also quietly worked his way up the depth chart this offseason, taking regular reps with the first and second teams, angling his way back to the field. Mangham didn\u2019t start the opener against New Mexico but played 39 snaps, and played well, paving the way for his first start in nearly two years against the Sooners. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just putting my head down and working,\u201d Mangham said. \u201cI know I\u2019m still that player; I\u2019ve just got to work to get back to it. The coaches trust me enough so I\u2019ve just got to keep putting in work.\u201d<\/p>\n
In mid-August, Michigan defensive backs coach LaMar Morgan, who helped lure Mangham away from East Lansing, felt optimistic about Mangham\u2019s chances of seeing the field this season. He touted the 6-foot-2, 195-pound defensive back\u2019s range and work ethic, while openly admitting that he challenged Mangham to find his 2023 self.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a story within a story with him,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cYou leave your rival and you get here and you get hurt, and you don\u2019t play and you redshirt. People are like, \u2018Why, what happened?\u2019 It\u2019s adversity and I think it made him grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANN ARBOR, Mich. \u2014 Jaden Mangham says his 2024 decision to transfer from Michigan State to rival Michigan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146472,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[975,399,398,396,397,99,976],"class_list":["post-146471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-975","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sports","tag-wspix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}