Texas Tech football: Red Raiders add former starting safety from Wisconsin

In the modern era of college football, a program can never have too many quality defensive backs.  So despite the fact that the Texas Tech football program was already well-stocked in the defensive backfield for 2021, Matt Wells and Co. have added another high-quality option through the transfer portal.

Friday, former Wisconsin safety Reggie Pearson announced his intention to play for the Red Raiders after previously being committed to South Dakota.  He had only been in the transfer portal since March 16.

Due to an undisclosed medical issue, Pearson was not cleared by Wisconsin to play in 2020.  The issue was discovered during an MRI that was undertaken as a result of a shoulder stinger over a year ago.  However, Pearson claims to have been cleared to play by two different medical professionals thus leading to his departure from the Badgers.

"“To everyone who does not know, I have been exempted from my sport by the University of Wisconsin due to medical issues,” Pearson wrote. “However, I have been cleared by the second and third opinions of outside medical professionals.”"

Now, that journey will continue in Lubbock.  And here’s hoping Pearson can return to the form he showed in 2019.

That year, as a sophomore, he started 13 games registering 60 tackles (3.5 for loss), 4 pass defenses, and a pair of forced fumbles.  Thus, it is easy to see why he was so attractive to the Red Raiders even though they are currently set at safety with Eric Monroe and Duke transfer Marquis “Muddy” Waters set to man the starting spots this fall.

But Pearson could be a long-term answer for Tech being as he still has three years of eligibility remaining give that the 2020 season did not count against a player’s eligibility.  And the fact that both Monroe and Waters will be out of eligibility after this season means that restocking the cupboard at the position is imperative.

That’s where the transfer portal is important because Tech has not done well in recruiting high school defensive backs in recent recruiting classes.  In fact, in the class of 2021, the Red Raiders added just one defensive back, corner Imari Jones from Coronado High School.

In the class of 2018, the Michigan native, Pearson, was a 3-star prospect who was rated the No. 49 safety prospect in America.  Now, he’s a Red Raider and he joins a plentifully stocked defensive backs room which is already as well-loaded as we have seen from the Red Raiders in recent years.  But in the Big 12, there’s never such thing as having too many quality defensive backs.