The highest-rated recruit that Will Muschamp signed when he was South Carolina’s football coach entered the transfer portal on Thursday, per multiple reports.

Jordan Burch is a former 5-star who narrowly signed with South Carolina over UGA out of high school in 2020, and he’s played edge rusher for the Gamecocks for the past three seasons.

There’s no indication yet whether or not Burch has interest in UGA, or vice versa. But there’s plenty of connections already in place -- and the Bulldogs may have a need for a transfer at edge rusher.

Muschamp, who is now UGA’s co-defensive coordinator, personally recruited Burch out of Hammond Academy high school for South Carolina, rather than having an assistant in charge. Muschamp was around Hammond a lot of those days, as his son Jackson was also on the same team, providing Muschamp with extra access to build a relationship with Burch, completely legal under NCAA rules.

Along with his father, the younger Muschamp is now with UGA’s football program as a preferred walk-on at quarterback, giving Burch another familiar face with the Bulldogs.

This year’s UGA defense has sorely missed a game-changer at edge rusher since the season-ending injury to Nolan Smith, although the Bulldogs did sign some blue-chip recruits at the position last month. Burch is projected to make an instant impact at his new college home.

At South Carolina, Burch had yet to live up to the hype of being the nation’s No. 8 overall recruit in 2020, although he showed flashes of enormous talent with the Gamecocks, especially this past season. Burch was the second highest-rated recruit in school history, trailing only the legendary Jadeveon Clowney.

The 6-foot-6, 275-pound Burch started all 13 games for South Carolina this season, finishing with 14 quarterback hurries. 3.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for losses.

Burch immediately becomes one of the top-rated players in the transfer portal, and is expected to draw many suitors. Oregon coach Dan Lanning also built a strong relationship with Burch while he was UGA’s defensive coordinator.