Baylor Bears Safety Devin Neal Enters Transfer Portal
Junior safety Devin Neal announced Saturday he plans to enter the transfer portal, becoming the third Baylor Bear to do so this season, following wide receiver Josh Fleeks and quarterback Kyron Drones.
Neal was a dependable defender at the back for the Bears in 2022, wracking up 41 tackles (31 solo) and two interceptions in 11 games, missing the final regular season game against the Texas Longhorns.
In his Twitter announcement, Neal clarified he had made his decision to enter the portal before coach Dave Aranda fired defensive coordinator Ron Roberts and special teams coordinator Ronnie Wheat Thursday.
A message to Baylor nation, thank you for everything. pic.twitter.com/aRT0NwioWs
— Devin Neal JR💫 (@DevinNealjr1) December 3, 2022
Neal's best performance this season came against the BYU Cougars in September, when he collected eight tackles, two tackles for loss and his only sack of the season. The junior safety also appeared in nine games during the 2021 season that saw Baylor not only win the Big 12 and Sugar Bowl championships but also have one of the top defenses in the nation.
While Neal became a starter under Roberts, he actually committed to play for Matt Rhule and Phil Snow, having made his decision to come to Baylor in December 2019, just three weeks before Rhule and Snow left for the Carolina Panthers. Of course, Rhule is now the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Neal was one of the top-rated defensive players out of Kentucky his senior year, as the Lexington native led his team to the state championship game in 2019. Neal was originally committed to playing for Luke Fickell and the Cincinnati Bearcats until taking an official visit to Baylor in December 2019. Two days after the visit, he de-committed from Cincinnati and committed to play for the Bears the same day.
Coming out of high school, Neal also had offers from Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan.
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Covering Baylor for Inside The Bears and the Locked on Baylor podcast. You can follow me for more Baylor content at @realcamstuart on Twitter. Originally from Rockland, Massachusetts and a Baylor alum, so I might mix the occasional bias and/or Boston sports tweet in there every once in a while.