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'Miscommunication' Cost Historic College Football Program 5-Star QB Ryder Lyons

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Kevin Matthew Borba | Last updated Jun 24, 2025 7:41 PM ET

Coming into Tuesday, just three of the top 10 quarterback recruits in college football were committed to a program.

That number dropped to two after five-star Folsom product Ryder Lyons appeared on ESPN's "Pat McAfee Show" and pledged to play for the BYU Cougars.

While BYU had been a constant throughout his recruitment, as they were the first program to offer him, the USC Trojans had long been viewed as the team to beat. However, over the past couple of months, when Lyons spoke on USC, it was evident that things had changed between him and the program where his older brother, Walker, plays tight end.

Following his commitment on Tuesday, 247Sports recruiting insider Tom Loy detailed exactly what went wrong between the Los Angeles powerhouse and Lyons.

"Now on the recruiting front, early it looked like the USC Trojans and head coach Lincoln Riley were going to get this one done," Loy said. "It looked like Ryder Lyons was going to be the next of a long line of great quarterbacks to play for Riley. However, a little bit of a miscommunication and both sides kind of faded off down the stretch."

While it's unclear what led to USC taking its foot off the gas pedal, they do hold a 2026 quarterback commitment from four-star and Elite 11 participant Jonas Williams.

It is also worth noting that Riley and company flipped 2025 five-star Husan Longstreet from Texas A&M, and he is expected to be the future of the program. As it stands right now, the Trojans are doing okay for themselves, as they currently have the No. 1 recruiting class in the country.

Missing on Lyons stings a tad, but quarterback is typically a strong suit for Riley.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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