SMU transfer safety Bryan Massey commits to Houston Cougars

SMU transfer safety Bryan Massey was searching for his home in the NCAA Transfer Portal and on Saturday evening, he decided that he’d stay in the state of Texas. Massey officially committed to the Houston Cougars and announced the news on his Twitter page.

Last season, Massey suited up in 11 games, racking up 30 tackles, a tackle for loss, and a forced fumble. He was moved to a backup role at safety and lost his kick return duties earlier in the year. Early on in his career, he had the look of one of the most explosive kick returners in all of college football.

In the 2021 season, he returned two kickoffs for touchdowns, ranking second in the nation in that category. He finished with 686 kick return yards on 20 carries. Massey also finished 12th in the country in kick return yards. He battled a number of injuries, and his play wasn’t quite the same after he suffered an ankle injury before the 2022 campaign.

Massey will have two years to play one season of college football with the Cougars.

He played his high school football with Katy (Katy, Texas), where he was ranked as a three-star prospect and the No. 1,831 overall player in the country.

SMU finished with an impressive record last year, finishing 11-3 overall and 8-0 in the AAC. They lost their bowl game, the Wasabi Fenway Bowl 23-14 to the Boston College Eagles. They were led by quarterback Preston Stone, one of the more dynamic signal-callers in their conference. He posted impressive numbers for the passing attack, completing 59.9% of his passes for 3,197 yards while tossing in 28 touchdowns, with just six interceptions.

Houston is coming off a rough 2023 season in which they went 4-8 overall and 2-7 in the Big 12 Conference. They look to bounce back in 2024, as they begin their season with the UNLV Rebels on Aug. 31. Things don’t get any easier for the Cougars in their second game against the Oklahoma Sooners. That one will be slated for Sept. 7.

The Houston pass defense last year was one of the nation’s worst, ranking 117th out of 133 qualifying teams. They gave up 255 yards per game through the air. The Cougars are in luck because they got a new head coach in former Tulane head coach Willie Fritz, one of the bright stars in college football today.