{"id":670515,"date":"2026-05-28T17:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T17:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/670515\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T17:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T17:36:10","slug":"ucla-qb-karson-gordon-plans-to-enter-transfer-portal-as-track-athlete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/670515\/","title":{"rendered":"UCLA QB Karson Gordon plans to enter transfer portal as track athlete"},"content":{"rendered":"

UCLA<\/a> redshirt sophomore quarterback\/receiver Karson Gordon<\/a> plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal as a track and field athlete, according to On3\u2019s Pete Nakos<\/a>. Although he\u2019s entering as a track athlete, Gordon still plans to play football wherever he transfers to.<\/p>\n

Gordon is listed as a receiver on UCLA\u2019s 2026 online roster, but he originally signed with the Bruins as a three-star dual-threat quarterback out of Episcopal (Missouri City, Tex.) in the <\/a>2024 recruiting cycle<\/a>. Gordon also participated as a triple jumper on the UCLA track and field team, and last competed during the 2025 indoor season. He set a personal record with a winning jump of 51 feet, 11 inches at the Spokane Sports Showcase in January 2025. Gordon also won a national championship in the triple jump with a leap of 51-4.5 at the 2023 Nike Outdoor Nationals.<\/p>\n

[ $19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage ]<\/a><\/p>\n

Gordon was moved to wide receiver this offseason after previously competing to be the Bruins\u2019 starting quarterback last Spring before UCLA landed former Tennessee<\/a> QB Nico Iamaleava<\/a> in the transfer portal in April 2025. With Iamaleava back as the Bruins\u2019 starter in 2026 and his younger brother Madden<\/a> expected to back him up, Gordon opted to hit the transfer portal this Summer rather than contribute at receiver.<\/p>\n

Despite entering the portal as a track and field athlete, Gordon can sign with any program as a two-sport athlete, meaning he can join any interested football program ahead of the upcoming Fall semester. The NCAA\u2019s month-long track and field portal window opened Thursday and will close on June 26.<\/p>\n

Given his track background, Gordon is considered one of the fastest quarterbacks on the market, and was reportedly clocked as running a 4.28-second 40-yard-dash during a recent workout at UCLA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-1 Gordon highlighted UCLA\u2019s competitiveness on the national track scene<\/a> as well as the Bruins\u2019 2024 move to the Big Ten as reasons for his commitment in Nov. 2023. He also cited former Bruins head coach Chip Kelly<\/a> and his dynamic scheme, both of which have changed considerably since Kelly left UCLA to join Ohio State as its offensive coordinator in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cUCLA just has everything, honestly. Big-time football, moving to the Big Ten next year, with top-tier competition. Their track team is always very competitive in the national scene,\u201d Gordon told<\/a> On3\u2019s Hayes Fawcett<\/a> in Nov. 2023. \u201cScheme-wise, it\u2019s a pro-style offense that translates a lot to the League and that\u2019s what I come from in (high school), so it\u2019ll feel like second nature. They also use QB\u2019s like me and have had success with dual threats, so it was a no-brainer to want to play under the super-experienced Chip Kelly.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Kelly praised Gordon\u2019s track background and natural athleticism on National Signing Day in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe added two quarterbacks, obviously\u00a0Karson Gordon\u00a0who everybody knew about,\u201d Kelly said in late Dec. 2023<\/a>. \u201cKarson\u2019s the state of Texas triple jump champion, I think he\u2019s gone over 52-plus feet in the triple jump which I think is the state record. So he\u2019s a tremendous athlete but a really sharp kid at a high school where they really do a lot of really neat things and do a lot that\u2019s put on the quarterback\u2019s plate.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UCLA redshirt sophomore quarterback\/receiver Karson Gordon plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal as a track and field…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[399,292591,398,396,397,99],"class_list":["post-670515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-football","tag-karson-gordon-24-episcopal","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}