Northwestern rightfully got a lot of attention for landing four 2024 commitments on Sunday and Monday, after they were in town for an official visit over the weekend.
But the Wildcats also got a commitment from grad transfer defensive tackle Reginald Pearson on Monday. He may have gotten lost in the shuffle a little bit, which is a shame because he is the most improbable commitment of them all.
Pearson’s path isn’t long by today’s standards – Northwestern will be the third school of his career. But the stops he’s made have been unconventional, to say the least, especially for a Wildcat. It’s a journey similar to that of Taishan Holmes, a defensive tackle who played for Northwestern last season. But that’s about it.
Pearson began his career at Georgia Military College, a junior college in Milledgville, Ga. He spent two years at GMC, and then the last two years at Bethune-Cookman, an HBCU, where he earned his degree in interdisciplinary studies. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
A JUCO and an FCS program isn’t the typical resume for a Northwestern player, transfer or not. Just three years after playing schools like Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, Arkansas Baptist and Hocking College, Pearson will be playing Penn State, Nebraska and Wisconsin in the fall.
It’s quite a leap, but one that Pearson shrugs off. To him, it all makes sense. He lived it, step by step.
“I haven’t really thought about it until you just said it,” he said over the phone. “I just thank God. It’s definitely a blessing.”
After Pearson entered the transfer portal on April 26, he got offers from a host of other HBCU programs – Alabama State (where his father played), Grambling State, Tennessee State, Lane College and Norfolk State – as well as McNeese State, another FCS program. His lone other FBS offer was from Old Dominion, a new member of the Sun Belt conference.
Then, new Northwestern defensive line coach Christian Smith came calling and invited Pearson up to Evanston for an official visit. While Pearson was on campus, the Wildcats offered him a scholarship. Less than a week later, he committed. It all happened pretty quickly.
Pearson said that Northwestern impressed him through the entire recruiting process, from his first conversations with Smith through his commitment. And the visit, he said, “was great."
“I enjoyed everything up there,” he said. “The facilities, the coaches. I just loved the whole atmosphere.”
So did Pearson’s parents. He likened meeting all the coaches during his visit to "speed dating, and my parents fell in love,” he cracked.
Pearson will help fill a critical need at defensive tackle for the Wildcats. This spring, there were just two scholarship defensive tackles on the roster. But Smith added a pair of grad transfers in May with Pearson and Matthew Lawson from Fresno State. Two more highly touted incoming freshman, Tyler Gant and Dylan Roberts, will also be reporting in June.
Pearson is 6-foot-2, and though he was listed at 280 pounds by Bethune-Cookman last fall, he says he now weighs about 320. He maintains that he will get down to 300 for to play for Northwestern next season.
“Coach Smith likes my twitch and my get off, and I have violent hands,” said Pearson. “He wants to see more consistency, but he wants me to continue to be violent and get off the ball.”
Pearson’s statistics at Bethune-Cookman won’t wow anyone. He had 19 tackles and 2.0 TFL in 2021, and just eight tackles and 1.5 TFL last season. But his job isn’t to collect stats: it’s to plug gaps and wreak havoc.
Besides, Pearson says that Northwestern’s staff only looked at one game when evaluating him as a player: the season-opening 70-13 loss to Miami. That was the only game the 2-9 Wildcats played against an FBS team all year. Smith obviously liked what he saw.
Even in that game, Pearson is credited with just one tackle in the box score. But his quickness and burst is evident on film. That’s what ultimately earned him the offer from Northwestern.
“It’s not just about making big plays," said Pearson. "The biggest thing, at this level, or any level, is consistency. If you’re consistent, great plays will come.”
Pearson, who is originally from Montgomery, Ala., can't wait to start his career at Northwestern and get a taste of college football at its highest level. The program's practice facility, the Walter Athletics Center, is much nicer than what he is used to.
"It's amazing," he said. "You can't help but be the best you can be."
Pearson is eager to do his part to get Northwestern football back on track after a 1-11 2022 season. He thinks he can play an important role.
"I'm just going to do my best, and leave it to the Lord for the rest...," he said. "The game is still won in the trenches. We've got to dominate up front and get Northwestern back on top, back to winning ball games."
