Noah Pierre Finally Gets his Time in the Sun
/
Image: Zach Greene, Hoosier Huddle
Written by Matt Smith
As a talented player in college football, in the time where the transfer portal has never been more popular, continuing to sit on the bench is not the ideal option. For the Hoosiers’ Noah Pierre, the transfer portal never crossed his mind.
Pierre has sat on the bench, not receiving much playing time for much of his three years at Indiana. However, this year due to injuries, Pierre has been given his chance to shine.
When Pierre was feeling down due to multiple position changes, Pierre resulted in prayer in order to push him through. One prayer he always goes to is Psalms 23:4, which was the prayer him and his mom always went to back in Florida.
Psalms 23:4 reads“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
Pierre’s time to shine came Saturday against Michigan State, with starting corner Tiawan Mullen and safety Reese Taylor out due to injury.
Pierre did not let this opportunity go to waste. Michigan State continually threw Pierre’s way knowing that he was inexperienced. This made Pierre frustrated, but during Michigan State’s final drive when the Hoosiers needed a turnover desperately, defensive backs coach Brandon Shelby pulled Pierre aside.
“Listen, forget all the negative, you’re going to have an opportunity,” Shelby said. “Do you believe?”
“Yeah, coach,” Pierre said, but sounded slightly deflated.
“Do you believe it?” Shelby asked again.
“I believe it,” Pierre said more confidently.
On second down, the ball was thrown Pierre’s way on an end zone fade. Pierre leaped in the air and pulled down the ball for his first career interception.
This gave the Indiana offense a chance to win the game, which ultimately didn’t happen as the Hoosiers lost 20-15. However, with the health of both Mullen and Taylor in question, the Hoosiers will continue to rely on Pierre.
“It just speaks to his commitment to who we are and his belief in our program and him wanting to be here, wanting to graduate from here, wanting to get a degree from here and being able to finish what he started,” Indiana head coach Tom Allen said of Pierre. “I respect that so much.”
Shelby and Allen both described Pierre as tough when asked what came to mind watching him play.
Choosing to stay at Indiana was an easy decision for Pierre.
“Indiana chose me, and I chose them to, so leaving never really crossed my mind,” Pierre said on Tuesday. “I always wanted to make a point here and prove that I can be that player here.”
Pierre chose Indiana as his only Power Five offer, over his home school Florida Atlantic. This was in 2018 where he began as a safety, but appeared in games as a special teams player during his freshman and sophomore year.
He began the season as a third string safety, but with all of the injuries in the secondary, Pierre was asked to move to cornerback and stepped up just like all of his coaches expected him to.
“All those reps he was taking in the past, whether it was a backup or in spring football or fall camp, this is his moment to be able to step up at critical times to be able to make game-changing plays, just consistent plays," Allen said.