Rob Rathbun doesn't remember the conversation, not exactly. He thinks it went something like this.

In the weight room at Eagle High School in Eagle, Idaho, he mentioned to the Mustangs' star senior linebacker that, uh, he could probably play college football if he wanted to. That had never actually occurred to Matt Hudson.

Hudson asked him what he needed to do, and Rathbun — the defensive coordinator — gave him the basics: Make a Twitter account. Make a Hudl page with some of your highlights.

"He was kind of long and gangly and not very strong at that time," Rathbun said. "But just super competitive. Pretty quiet kid, but just a switch flipped for him where he wanted to be really good at it. I don't think he'd considered, at that point, playing beyond high school. Like, didn't even think that was really an option."

Hudson took his advice. Within days he had colleges reaching out to him. Yale was the first, but the Idaho-born Hudson didn't even know where that was — he saw the logo and assumed it was BYU. There were others, and he quickly realized there could be a lot more football in his future.

After a prep year at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia, Hudson committed to Harvard, spurning the first team to offer him for its biggest rival. After four productive years there, and only six years after he realized he could actually play college football, he transferred to Memphis and has been a starter for a revamped defense that's turned heads around the country.

"Yeah," Hudson said. "That is pretty crazy."

'Hey, you're good enough to play'

In Eagle, a suburb of Boise, Hudson played both baseball and football. He was a third baseman and pitcher in baseball, and he played linebacker and quarterback in football. To him, it wasn't that crazy — "If you think about it, linebacker's kind of the quarterback of the defense" — but he stopped before his senior year and focused on defense.

Even with the initial interest after he realized he could play college football, he knew he needed more film and more time to work on his game. So he went to Fork Union, which has produced more than 100 NFL players.

It was strict. His phone was in a box for the entire time he was there, and he could only call his parents on a landline. He didn't have full internet access, but he was allowed to use Twitter in the computer room to communicate with coaches.

One of those coaches was Harvard's Tim Murphy, who started recruiting Hudson and was immediately confused.

"We were so impressed with the kid, with his athleticism, his physical toughness and his academic prowess, to the point where we felt like he was either underrecruited or there was something we didn't know about," Murphy said.

So Murphy flew to Eagle, his first time in Idaho, while Hudson was still at Fork Union. He met Hudson's parents and was sold.

Hudson's freshman season was canceled because of COVID, but he grew throughout his time with the Crimson. By his senior year, in 2023, he'd become one of the best linebackers in the Ivy League.

"He was one of those kids that everybody looked up to, throughout the program," Murphy said. "Not just the players, not just the coaches."

Why Matt Hudson came to Memphis

Hudson entered the transfer portal after his senior season hoping to jump to the FBS level. He also did so with a Harvard degree in economics, becoming the first member of his family to graduate from college.

And he chose Memphis. New defensive coordinator Jordon Hankins' defense is linebacker-heavy, with Hudson, Chandler Martin and Elijah Herring all playing major roles this season.

"He's like an extension of me," said Martin, Hudson's roommate. "Actually, I wouldn't call it an extension. He's a bigger version. Fast, smart, physical."

No. 23 Memphis (3-0) plays at Navy (2-0, 1-0 AAC) on Saturday (2:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network).

Hudson has drawn rave reviews through the first three weeks of the season for his physicality, drive and toughness. He grabbed an interception in the win over North Alabama, was part of a critical sack against Florida State and has tallied 11 tackles on the season.

And, yeah, everyone mentions the Harvard thing.

"That's probably one of the most annoying things," Hudson said. "I can never answer any questions wrong, because they're like, 'You've got a Harvard degree. You're supposed to know everything.' But yeah, they poke fun at me all the time."

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on X @thejonahdylan."

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Matt Hudson's journey to Memphis football included Idaho, Harvard