Former Irmo star defensive end Trajan Jeffcoat will play his final season of college football in the SEC, it just won’t be at USC, his first choice. Over the weekend Jeffcoat took an official visit to Arkansas and Sunday night he announced a commitment to the Razorbacks. The former All-SEC performer at Missouri will have one season of eligibility with the Razorbacks.
Jeffcoat entered the NCAA Transfer Portal on January 8th, three days after USC defensive end Jordan Burch put in his name. The opportunity to replace Burch and step right into a position of need at USC was what Jeffcoat was looking for. Per a source, he wanted to play his final season close to home and was willing to take less NIL money if that was the case.
It appeared to be an open and shut case for Jeffcoat and USC, an easy transfer situation. He met the academic requirements and Shane Beamer apparently wanted him.
Jeffcoat relocated to his home in Irmo with plans to enroll for the spring semester once he was officially accepted by USC. But over the January 14th weekend TheBigSpur reported there was an issue holding up the transfer. As last week played out, it was learned that a situation that had occurred early in Jeffcoat’s time at Missouri was the crux of the matter, and it was something that was out of the hands of the USC athletic department and also did not involve any SEC regulations.
Sources said board members and other influential people worked on the case throughout the week in an attempt to resolve the matter within the University, but to no avail. Jeffcoat was advised that the situation could eventually be worked out at USC and to remain patient, but he had no guarantees. Thus, he will be a Hog and not a Gamecock in 2023.
In 48 games at Missouri, Jeffcoat totaled 84 tackles with 19 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks. He also scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery, and that was against the Gamecocks in 2021. Jeffcoat earned All-SEC honors following the 2020 season when he had 23 tackles with 6 tackles for loss and 6 sacks.
