Orange Beach senior Chris Pearson announced Wednesday, Nov. 30, that he has reopened his recruitment after decommitting from the UAB Blazers.

Pearson, a three-star athlete listed at 6’ 3” and 195 pounds, initially committed to UAB over 10 other Division I offers July 29. Now, the Makos' running back, safety and return specialist is back on the market.

“I would like to thank the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the coaching staff for the opportunity to further my education and play at the next level. Also to all the fans for the love and support,” Pearson wrote on social media Wednesday morning. “After extensive talks with my family, I have decided to decommit from UAB and reopen my recruitment. Thank you to the Orange Beach community for being with me on this long journey.”

The University of Central Florida and Liberty joined UAB in his top three choices that were revealed June 27. Those offers were in addition to those from Alabama A&M, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Louisiana-Monroe, Marshall, Memphis and Minnesota.

According to recruiting service 247Sports, Pearson registered a composite score of 0.8475 and is the 119th-ranked safety in the nation, as well as the 53rd-ranked overall prospect in Alabama for the Class of 2023. In the ESPN300 recruiting rankings, Pearson is ranked 96th in his position group nationally and is the 42nd-ranked overall recruit in the state for his class.

Pearson’s announcement Wednesday morning came about six hours before UAB held a press conference introducing Trent Dilfer, former NFL quarterback and ESPN analyst, as the newest head coach of the Blazers.

It was Tuesday night that it seemed as though current interim head coach Bryant Vincent would not be hired as the full-time head coach. Before long, sources confirmed Dilfer was going to be the next head coach instead.

Spanish Fort slot receiver Jacob Godfrey also announced his commitment to the UAB Blazers over the summer and even scored a touchdown with Vincent in attendance of the Toros’ non-region game against Daphne.

Godfrey has not yet announced any change in his commitment status but shared his support of the former Spanish Fort head coach in a Nov. 23 tweet.

“I committed to UAB (@UAB_FB) because I believe in Bryant Vincent (@bryantvincent44)! #KeepCoachV,” Godfrey wrote last Wednesday.