New LB Jared Pedraza finds home with Redhawks

Jared Pedraza arrived at SEMO as a grad transfer looking for a new opportunity to continue his college football career.

Instead, he found a new home in Cape Girardeau.

“When I first got here, I felt the love from the players, felt love from the coaches,” Pedraza said. “And then as you go around town, you meet people that support the Redhawks, and they bring you up and they start showing you some love. I'm from a small town, so I'm used to small, tight-knit communities.”

Pedraza transferred from Northwestern State University in Louisiana, where the linebacker was the Demons’ top tackler last year with 50 tackles. The Texas native totaled 69 tackles in 2022 and accumulated 209 tackles, 27.5 tackles for loss, and 10.5 sacks in 37 career games.

Pedraza’s 2023 season at Northwestern ended in the worst way possible. The season was canceled on Oct. 26, 2023, following the tragic murder of teammate, Demons safety Ronnie Caldwell. Head coach Brad Laird resigned following the cancelation of the season.

"Everyone was kind of depressed," Pedraza said.

To add to the adversity, Pedraza's father, Joey Pedraza, passed away. In a 2018 interview with the Bryan College Station Eagle, Pedraza, then a senior at Franklin High School, said he learned his work ethic from working at his father's deer farm throughout his childhood in Franklin, Texas.

Pedraza also told the Eagle that he saw football as his way out, his only entry to a college education unburdened by crippling college debt. After five years with the Demons, he left Northwestern State with a Bachelor of General Studies.

Southeast Missouri State linebacker Jared Pedraza participates in a dill at a spring practice Tuesday, March, 19, at Houck Field. Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

Pedraza said he chose the Redhawks as the place to further his college football career because of the coaching staff and culture. He was vindicated early on when he was welcomed in by his new teammates and the strong support system he found at SEMO.

"I just feel like they care about you more here," Pedraza said. "Coming here, I feel like it's been the best decision I could possibly make."

Pedraza enters SEMO with two years of eligibility remaining due to redshifting his freshman year in 2019 and the bonus COVID year that came right after. He will likely be counted on to fill one of the holes in the Redhawks' linebacker corp, left by the departures of Christian Fuhrman, Jacob Morrissey, and Mike Matthews.

"I feel like once I get super comfortable on the system, which I'm starting to get every day, I feel like it's gonna be my best year yet," Pedraza said.