If at first you don’t succeed, try again. And then, in Cullen Christian‘s world, try again, if necessary.
The defensive back confirmed to both wvillustrated.com and Scout.com earlier this week that he has decided to transfer into the West Virginia football program. Because Christian will have already received his bachelor’s degree and will be pursing a Masters not offered at (one of) his former schools, the cornerback will be eligible to play immediately in 2014.
“I wanted to continue to play football and further my education with Sports Management, which is a major that Pitt doesn’t offer,” the player said. “I felt like I didn’t fit Pitt’s system, but I feel like I have an opportunity to play at West Virginia. They play so many DBs. I know Coach Gibson very well and I know how he goes about coaching.”
“Coach Gibson” to which Christian referred is Tony Gibson, the Mountaineers’ new defensive coordinator. Christian had two previous FBS stops prior to Morgantown; Gibson was his position coach at each of them.
As a member of Michigan’s 2010 recruiting class, Christian was a four-star player and rated as the No. 8 cornerback in the country according to Rivals.com. Christian played in 11 games as a true freshman for the Wolverines before announcing in April of 2011 that he would be transferring to his hometown of Pittsburgh and playing for the Panthers.
After sitting out the 2011 season to satisfy NCAA transfer rules, he played in 12 games -- two starts -- in 2012. Last season, an ankle injury limited Christian to just two games.