Former Michigan State wide receiver transferring to play for Bill Belichick

Aziah Johnson’s next stop should be an interesting one. The former Michigan State wide receiver is transferring to North Carolina and will play for new coach Bill Belichick, a six-time Super Bowl winner leading the New England Patriots. The news was announced Friday night by his agency, A&P Sports. Johnson, 6-foot-0 and 175 pounds, is a former three-star recruit from Virginia who appeared in four games while keeping a redshirt as a true freshman last year. He was fourth on the team with 276 receiving yards on 16 catches with two touchdowns in 12 games with four starts this year. Belichick spent 24 of his 29 seasons as an NFL head coach with the Patriots, winning 17 AFC East titles with nine Super Bowl appearances. After a split with New England following the 2023 season, he looked into other NFL jobs but spent this year out of football before landing his first college gig in a surprising development. Michigan State has lost 13 players to the portal this offseason and Johnson is one of three receivers in the group, along with Jaron Glover and Jaelen Smith. Glover is headed to Mississippi State and Smith to UTSA. The Spartans return leading receiver Nick Marsh but nobody else at the position had double-digit receptions this season. Veteran transfers Omari Kelly (Middle Tennessee) and Chrishon McCray (Kent State) committed to Michigan State this week. • None BETTING: Check out our guide to the best Michigan sportsbooks, where our team of sports betting experts has reviewed the experience, payout speed, parlay options and quality of odds for multiple sportsbooks.