Boise State loses one of its most experienced defensive backs to the transfer portal
Boise State will open the 2020 season without one of its most experienced defensive backs.
Redshirt senior safety DeAndre Pierce has entered the transfer portal and will spend his final year of eligibility elsewhere, a Boise State spokesperson confirmed Thursday afternoon.
Pierce appeared in 26 games during his first two seasons at Boise State, and he earned honorable mention All-Mountain West honors in 2017 after starting 11 games and finishing fourth on the team with 83 tackles. The past two seasons, he has been plagued by injuries.
In 2018, he started the first four games of the season before missing the rest of the year with a lacerated spleen. At the time of his injury, he was the Broncos’ leading tackler.
Last season, he was injured in the opener against Florida State and missed the next four games before returning for Boise State’s regular season game against Hawaii.
Pierce appeared in the next four games, racking up 19 tackles. But he suffered a knee injury in a collision with teammate Curtis Weaver in the Broncos’ win over Wyoming and missed the final five games of the season.
Pierce leaves Boise State with 144 career tackles and one interception. His father, former NFL linebacker Antonio Pierce, is the co-defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Arizona State.
Boise State returns safeties Tryeque Jones and Jordan Happle, both of whom saw plenty of snaps last season, and sophomore JL Skinner, who now appears likely to play a much larger role than last season.
The Broncos also made the secondary a focus of their 2020 recruiting class, adding six defensive backs, including safety Semaj Verner and junior college cornerback Jonathan Earl.
This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 4:37 PM.
