Zachariah Branch reveals bizarre reason he left USC for Georgia

Former Georgia receiver Zachariah Branch didn’t have to go far to start his professional career as the Atlanta Falcons took him in the third round of the 2026 NFL draft.

Branch spent just one season in Athens, transferring with his brother, Zion, after two years at USC in which he was a First Team All-American in 2023. His decision to leave one blue blood for another came as a bit of a surprise ahead of the 2025 season, but during an appearance on the St. Brown Podcast, Branch revealed the bizarre reason he ultimately left the Trojans.

“I’m built on just like a lot of extra work and things like that,” Branch said. “Just throughout my whole career, that’s kind of what made me who I am… I guess they had a lawsuit back then, somebody was lifting in the weight room and the weight fell on their chest.

“Just because of the way that I am, after I couldn’t do the routine stuff that I wanted to… It was just a lot of hassle… I couldn’t really find a way to build my plan how I wanted to. So it was a tough decision, but that’s what ultimately ended up making me leave.”

Zachariah Branch reveals the real reason why he transferred from USC to Georgia:

The Falcons rookie WR said due to a lawsuit involving a weight lifting accident, he wasn’t able to access the USC athletic facilities after hours to get in extra work when he wanted. pic.twitter.com/UJODReuoOV

— St. Brown Podcast (@StBrownPodcast) June 17, 2026

There you have it. According to Branch, he opted to transfer because he couldn’t use the team facilities after hours.

Branch also said that because USC shares its athletics facilities among sports, he wasn’t always able to train there whenever he wanted during the day.

In his lone season with the Bulldogs, Branch set career highs in receiving yards (744) and touchdowns (5). Perhaps that extra work made the difference after all, as he earned Second Team All-SEC honors.

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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: Why Zachariah Branch transferred to Georgia football from USC