Noah Pierre Stepping Up As a Leader in Secondary

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

The Indiana Hoosiers were expected to have a very strong secondary in 2022. IU returned a number of seniors at safety, corner and Husky and most dubbed the group to be the Hoosiers best position group on the team. Injuries and blown assignments mounted and the season would have to be categorized as a disappointment for Indiana’s secondary. Players like Tiawan Mullen, Monster Matthews, Jaylin Williams and Bryant Fitzgerald have exhausted eligibility and moved on, leaving an uncertain and rebuilt position group for 2023. One player that could have moved on chose to return and he has emerged as a leader on IU’s defense: Noah Pierre.

“I’m trying to bring that leadership aspect, pushing the younger guys to the best of their abilities,” Pierre told the media after practice on Thursday afternoon. “Making them believe in what we have going on. I want to push hope onto them and make them believe and understand what we could be.”

Pierre has seen both success and failure as a Hoosier. He came to Bloomington as a member of the 2018 recruiting class and redshirted the 2018 season, playing one game. He appeared in ten games in 2019, all eight in 2020, all 12 games in 2021 and all 12 games in 2022. Pierre has been around the program a long time and has been versatile and durable. He has experience on special teams, cornerback, safety and Husky and has always been willing to fill whatever hole the coaches need. Pierre has settled in at Husky and is expected to be the starter there in 2023. During this spring practice though, he knows his most important job is stepping up to help build the rebuilt unit.

“When I started here, I was not vocal. I was just trying to find my way. The more I have gotten comfortable, I’ve started to speak up more,” Pierre said.

Evolving into a leader is not the only thing different for Pierre. He’s also had to adjust to a new position coach and co-defensive coordinator. Matt Guerrieri, or “Coach G”, will be calling the defensive plays for Indiana this season and this is his first spring with the squad. Pierre couldn’t help but smile a bit when asked about working with him.

“It’s been fun. He’s super energetic, high energy guy, super smart. He has coached a lot of good players in the past and I am looking forward to the next step. He has put wrinkles into what we are doing and he’s taught the secondary a lot already.”

He’ll be wearing a new number this season, number zero, but he’ll be attempting to return the Hoosiers to the kind of success he experienced in 2020. Noah Pierre understands what that takes and what that feels like but the remainder of the secondary is in either the first or second year with the program and only knows losing. The senior from Florida is doing everything he can to change that.

“Trying to get back that 2020 season and I’m trying to get us back to winning the games we are supposed to win and then upsetting some of the teams that the media and fans think we can’t beat,” Pierre said.