Rocky Lombardi is moving on, confirming in a tweet Friday morning that he is indeed transferring out of East Lansing.

In his post, Lombardi admitted the decision to leave was one of the toughest he has ever made. Nevertheless, he did believe transferring is the best decision for him to make.

He acknowledged and confirmed that previous reports that he had entered the transfer portal are correct:

Lombardi was previously a three-star recruit and the No. 13 dual-threat QB for the 2017 recruiting class. He was originally recruited under head coach Mark Dantonio before Mel Tucker was hired in 2020.

Lombardi appeared in six games this season, throwing for 1,090 yards and eight touchdowns while completing 53.5% of passes. He threw nine interceptions.

During 2020, Lombardi was the driving force behind Michigan State’s win over in-state rival Michigan and also threw two touchdowns in the upset of Northwestern. Unfortunately, he struggled in a number of key games before getting injured against Ohio State.

Payton Thorne was the quarterback to replace Lombardi in a number of games, and it is hard to argue against his performance as the backup. There were a number of times when the offense appeared to receive a spark and look a bit more efficient with Thorne under center.

Regardless of the reasons why Lombardi is heading on for 2021 and beyond.