A former USC head coach has now added a former USC football player to his new coaching home.
A junior college-centric website tweeted early this week that Noah Jefferson was signing with Florida Atlantic. In a retweet on his personal Twitter account, the defensive lineman acknowledged the move from the JUCO ranks to Lane Kiffin‘s Owls program.
His bio also reads “Defensive Tackle at #TheFAU.”
Noah Jefferson @noahjefferson_ @ Arizona Western JuCo @AWCMatadors + @USC_Athletics Bounceback inks with @FAU_Football @tcminnick11 pic.twitter.com/aJNCdFPHHz
— JuCo Football Forer (@JuCoFootballACE) September 10, 2018
You already know family 😈 https://t.co/WbwB0da2Bd
— Noah Jefferson (@noahjefferson_) September 11, 2018
At least for now, Jefferson’s not listed on FAU’s online roster. According to the Palm Beach Post, Jefferson will be able to play for the Owls immediately in 2018.
A four-star member of USC’s 2015 recruiting class, Jefferson played in 14 games, starting one of those, as a true freshman. After starting the season-opening loss to Alabama in 2016, Jefferson never played another down for USC and ultimately announced in March of 2017 that he would be transferring to Arizona. Four months later, then-head coach Rich Rodriguez announced that Jefferson would not be playing for the Wildcats that season. No reason for the abrupt and unexpected about-face was given.
Instead of Arizona in the Pac-12, the 6-5, 330-pound Jefferson ended up playing the 2017 season at a junior college in Arizona. He actually signed with Ole Miss this past February, but failed to qualify academically.