Ryder Lyons commitment illustrates changes in how BYU recruits

Ryder Lyons can now get on that plane to the Philippines with all the recruiting pressure behind him.

Lyons ended a heated battle between BYU and Oregon for his future college quarterback services Tuesday, when he announced he’d be playing for the Cougars on “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN.

The 6-foot-3 Folsom High (El Dorado Hills, California) star is part of a performing group led by his mother Kamee that will perform shows in the Philippines for the next week and a half.

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His college decision came after BYU’s collective increased its offer, but it was still short of Oregon, according to sources. Even so, Oregon increased the amount previously on the table over the weekend as Lyons completed his official campus visit in Provo with a large contingent of recruits in the class of 2026.

Oregon was in contact with Lyons as late as 2 a.m. Tuesday morning, working on him to commit. It wasn’t until 3 a.m. that Lyons made his decision and informed Oregon. According to family sources, Oregon’s coaches were gracious and expressed love for him.

He taped his segment with the “McAfee Show” at 7 a.m. PDT, two hours before it aired on ESPN. Lyons literally had almost no sleep during the night. Before last weekend, it was 80-20 that he would pick Oregon over BYU and USC, according to family members familiar with his decision.

I am told Lyons was under a lot of personal pressure to make a decision Monday night and was undecided as of 2 a.m. Tuesday. His family asked friends not to call or come over so he could ponder, pray and contemplate what to do with his official announcement earlier in the evening.

Earlier in the day, Ryder received calls from Taysom Hill and former Naismith Award winner Danny Ainge. Hill told Lyons he had been introduced to entrepreneurial experts while at BYU, which led to him getting into business. Ainge, a native of Eugene, Oregon, told Lyons “his people” would be those he’d see at BYU.

On Tuesday after his announcement Hall of Famer Steve Young was on the phone with Kamee Lyons.

As stated, Oregon’s offer was higher than BYU and included more security in case of an injury.

“Money wasn’t the biggest part,” Lyons told McAfee. “The biggest part is making it to the NFL.”

That’s a big compliment to BYU’s staff. It had to compete with USC’s Lincoln Riley, Oregon’s Dan Lanning and Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin — all considered the top offensive gurus in the college game.

Lyons, rated the No. 3 recruit in the country by Rivals, is the first five-star recruit committed to the Cougar program in 22 years.

The decision by the star and gem of the 2026 class is significant for head coach Kalani Sitake and his staff because it signals BYU can go after top athletes who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — and succeed. Lyons had offers from all the top P4 programs, including USC, Oregon and Michigan.

Related How social media reacted to Ryder Lyons committing to BYU

With commitments from four-star, in-state recruits Brock Harris, a tight end at Pine View, and Lone Peak lineman Bott Mulitalo, the Lyons commitment moved BYU up to No. 31 in the 247Sports recruiting rankings for the class of 2026 nationally.

The decision by Lyons should trigger other commitments from prospects in the class of 2026. Some of them are waiting for things to settle down, because they knew the decision by the five-star Lyons would “block out the sun,” as far as sports news goes this week.

Who are those who could follow?

They could be Orem High receiver Kaue Akana and Meridian, Idaho, offensive lineman Jax Tanner, among others.

The Lyons commitment is the result of BYU football revamping the way it recruits. The presentations were tweaked with a greater emphasis on specific player goals with training, conditioning, nutrition and development.

Both offensive and defensive coaches have fine-tuned specifics. For instance, with Lyons, offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick outlined details and specifics of how he would be utilized as a dual-threat quarterback and sold his offensive philosophy. It resonated with the Lyons family.

Athletic director Brian Santiago was heavily involved in answering and reacting to questions from the Lyons family. University President Shane Reese brought an enthusiastic energy to the process.

Santiago has brought a competitive, “we are not losing” attitude to his new regime, demanding no effort be small and no stone be unturned in order to succeed.

In her first complete year as on-campus recruiting director, Annie Barham brought a different approach to the recruit experience in Provo, using things she learned working in the athletic departments at Duke University and LSU.

“We have a great culture and love on our team,” said receiver Parker Kingston on Monday. “We also have a great network of people who are there for BYU athletes during and after they play. This is something recruits are learning. The other day I was playing at Riverside and ran into Danny Ainge and another day I played with Taysom Hill. Former players here are a part of a big family that cares about one another.”

Utah transfer tight end Carsen Ryan’s family echoed that feature about BYU. “It’s not something we were familiar with before,” according to Carsen’s mother, Danielle.

In other words, since BYU swung and missed on Lyons’ older brother, four-star tight end Walker Lyons, who is now at USC, the experience presented to the younger brother was completely different, according to those familiar with both athletes.

“BYU absolutely nailed the weekend,” said a family member. “They knocked it out of the park. It came down to BYU’s culture and what the school is all about and the feeling he had while there.”

Bottom line with this big announcement is that Lyons chose BYU over an Oregon financial and recruiting machine that is superior to almost every other college football program in the country. Oregon’s frequency and intensity in recruiting was greater and so was the coinage.

Still, BYU was able to maneuver those obstacles.

How big is this one?

Monumental. For all the right reasons.

Cold Hearts quarterback Ryder Lyons throws a pass during an OT7 football Week 4 game against RWE, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Dallas. | Tony Gutierrez, Associated Press

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated Steve Young was in the Lyons house Tuesday. He phoned Kamee Lyons, Ryder’s mom, but did not pay the home a visit.

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