There is no doubt Michigan State’s football team will have to find new leadership next season, as Le’Veon Bell and Dion Sims will head to the NFL draft.

According to the Detroit Free Press, here is what Bell and Sims said on their twitter accounts respectfully.

Bell: “As hard as it was to leave spartan nation, it was even harder to pass on such a great opportunity I have in front of me! But I love and thank spartan nation for everything! I will always be a Spartan!”

Sims: “I want to thank #SpartanNation for 4 of the best years of my life! I’ll always bleed green & white!!!”

Bell had a great year for the green and white. He started off the year with a strong performance against the Boise State Broncos and never let up. Bell ended the year with 1,793 rushing yards, which was good enough for the 2nd best total in school history. He also ran the ball 382 times. That is an insane amount of carries for one player. However, one player can not carry an offense and that is one of the main reasons State went 7-6 this year.  I believe Bell could be a force at the next level and could be a steal of a pick in the NFL draft.

Here is what head coach Mark Dantonio said about Bell:

“While I do believe there was both personal and program value in Le’Veon returning for his senior season, I acknowledge the difficult choice he had to make.”

As for Sims, he had some injury and legal troubles during his time at State but has been projected to be as high as a second round draft pick.

Along with these two, it has been reported defensive end William Gholston will declare for the NFL draft also. That will be a huge loss for Michigan State if those reports are true.

For a season that was expected to be much better than it was, it is nice to see Michigan State have talent headed to the next level.