The Bethune-Cookman Wildcats has added former Penn safety Jaydon Hodge to the football team.
Jaydon Hodge was a three-star athlete coming out of Trinity Catholic High School in 2022. The Florida native originally committed to Penn at the beginning of the year and entered the transfer portal mid August. He told HBCU Gameday his reason for transferring was missing home and the culture of down south football. Hodge also has family members that are graduates of Bethune-Cookman so it was not a hard choice for him to decide.
“When Coach Sims saw me in the portal and Coach Hayes saw me in the portal they gave me that call and they asked if I was on board. And I said yes I am on board let’s come back home,” Jaydon Hodge explained.
“Coming back to Florida and being in the environment and seeing beaches now almost everyday we are only ten miles from the beach and I am only an hour from home.”
Jaydon Hodge is excited about helping Bethune-Cookman bring a winning culture back to the program.
“The message that Coach Sims is talking is that last season did not show a good representation of the Wildcats,” Hodge explained.
“2-9 was definitely not the Wildcat way. Y’all know that was not the Wildcat way. You guys are used to seeing Bethune-Cookman have a winning tradition and culture. So definitely day in and day out the boys are working and everyone is on one accord.”
“They’re just preaching. Last year was a fluke. Last year was not us.”