Kobe Hudson on KJ Jefferson: ‘He’s the closest thing Coach Gus has to Cam Newton’

This offseason, Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback KJ Jefferson transferred to the UCF Knights. There, he teamed up with head coach Gus Malzahn as UCF looks to make noise in the Big 12.

That match is one that has a lot of people buzzing. In particular, it has many fans excited because of how much Jefferson reminds them, both physically and stylistically, of Cam Newton. Even players on the team, like wide receiver Kobe Hudson, see that comparison, as he explained on Andy Staples On3.

“Perfect,” Kobe Hudson said. “It’s almost — he’s the closest thing Coach Gus has to Cam Newton. So, it’s very perfect.”

Cam Newton and Gus Malzahn, of course, combined for one of the best individual seasons in the history of college football. That came back in 2010 at Auburn, when Malzahn was the team’s offensive coordinator, and it ended in Newton winning the Heisman and Auburn winning a national championship.

This comparison also doesn’t come from someone who has no idea about the importance of Newton at Auburn. Kobe Hudson started his career playing for the Tigers but transferred to UCF to follow Gus Malzahn after he was fired. 2024 will be his third season at UCF and fourth playing for Malzahn.

KJ Jefferson will replace John Rhys Plumlee at quarterback for UCF. He spent the previous five seasons at Arkansas, taking a redshirt in 2019 and gaining an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic in 2020. During that stretch, he played in 44 games and had a 65.1 completion percentage. Jefferson threw for 7,911 yards and 67 touchdowns while rushing for 1,876 yards and 21 touchdowns at Arkansas.

UCF fans are getting their first look at KJ Jefferson during the team’s spring game, which is scheduled for Friday, April 12th. The Knights then will then kick-off the regular season against New Hampshire in August.

Gus Malzahn analyzes culture, transfer portal fit for KJ Jefferson

Recently, while making his own appearance on Andy Staples On3, Gus Malzahn praised how KJ Jefferson fit into the UCF team culture.

“I’m really excited about KJ. I recruited him out of high school, but Bo Nix was the same age. Obviously, we weren’t gonna take two quarterbacks. So I had my eye on him and, being from Arkansas, a lot of my friends are huge Arkansas fans. So when he went in the portal, he was our No. 1 guy,” Malzahn said.

“With what we like to do offensively, it doesn’t get any better than his skillset. I think he has the perfect skillset to thrive in our league and in our offense.”