Texas offers Central Michigan transfer S Devonni Reed

Central Michigan Chippewas safety Devonni Reed entered the NCAA transfer portal on Monday morning and within hours, the Texas Longhorns extended an offer to the graduate transfer.

Colorado and South Carolina also extended offers to Reed in the immediate aftermath of his decision.

The offer from Texas confirms the interest of head coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff in adding experienced depth at the position after losing BJ Foster, Chris Adimora, and Tyler Owens to the transfer portal and Brenden Schooler to graduation.

A 6’0, 195-pounder from Detroit, Reed was a consensus three-star prospect in the 2017 recruiting class who did have a Power Five offer from Minnesota before landing in Mount Pleasant. After redshirting in 2017, Reed emerged as a four-year starter for the Chippewas.

Reed finished second on the team in tackles as a redshirt freshman with 97 stops, along with three passes broken up and a fumble recovery for a touchdown against Kentucky. In 2020, he recorded his first career interception and in 2021 he once again finished second on the team in tackles with 73, adding 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack, and two interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown against LSU. Reed earning second-team All-MAC honors this year.

Reed is a hard-hitting enforcer secondary who would provide some much-needed toughness for a position group that was notably lacking in that area in 2021. And the fact that he’s made big plays against Power Five opponents indicates that his transition to a higher level of competition shouldn’t be difficult — he projects as a likely starter rather than just a rotation player if he lands at Texas.