WVU Loses Leading Cornerback to Transfer Portal

Amid a wave of exits from the WVU Football program, it seemed as though the defensive unit would get through to 2022 relatively unscathed. That wasn’t to be, as current Mountaineer Jackie Matthews declared that he was leaving, on Sunday.

A week after West Virginia gained Murray State cornerback Marcis Floyd, Matthews departs. The Mississippi Gulf Coast CC transfer leaves the Mountaineer roster, after two seasons, with 47 tackles (38 solo), 6.5 TFLs, a sack, and one interception.

Sans the redshirt junior and barring additional transfers, the 2022 cornerback room will consist of redshirt senior Charles Woods, senior Nicktroy Fortune, redshirt juniors Floyd and Naim Muhammad, redshirt sophomore Daryl Porter Jr., and sophomore Andrew Wilson-Lamp.

Every decision I ever made I came out stronger 💙 pic.twitter.com/DWxRs4qOJs

— Jackie Matthews (@Chosen1jm_) January 2, 2022

Matthews tweeted that, “Dear Mountaineer Family, I would like to begin with thanking God because without him this wouldn’t be possible. I want to thank West Virginia University for giving me an opportunity to compete at a high level while earning my degree. To my brothers, thank you for always supporting me and pushing me to be the best version of my [sic] myself daily. I will forever be grateful for the bonds I’ve built. To Mountaineer nation thank you for always being there for me throughout my ups and downs, I will cherish those moments for a lifetime. This has been the hardest decision of my life but I made a choice that was best for me and my future. With that being said, I’ll be entering my name into the portal and use my final year as a grad transfer.”

Matthews earned his Bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies in December.