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BYU Football Beats Out Oregon For Five-Star QB Ryder Lyons' Commitment

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Joe L. Bombo | Last updated Jun 24, 2025 3:56 PM ET

Since the dawn of the NIL era, BYU has quietly transformed from a scrappy, culture-first program into a serious recruiting player. Now, they’re making headlines, not just highlight reels.

BYU locked down AJ Dybantsa, the top basketball recruit in the class of 2025. The Cougars landed the highest-rated recruit in program history over blue bloods like North Carolina, Kansas, and even Alabama’s rising basketball machine.

But the football program made a statement of their own on Tuesday.

Five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons made it official on The Pat McAfee Show, saying he’s taking his talents to Provo. The Folsom High School (California) star chose the Cougars over Oregon in the final stretch. Lyons was the highest-rated uncommitted QB in the 2026 class. He’s expected to serve his LDS mission before enrolling in 2027, but make no mistake that he’s BYU’s most coveted quarterback commit in the modern era.

“Next year will not be my first year at BYU..

I will be serving a LDS mission” ~ @ryderly0ns #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/aKY95h02Qu
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 24, 2025

It’s not just about grabbing headlines. This is BYU punching way above its historical recruiting weight, in both football and basketball, and doing it in a way that speaks volumes about the school’s long-term strategy in the NIL landscape. They’re not trying to be someone else, but building their brand the BYU way—faith, family, and now, funding.

Let’s be real about BYU beating out blue-chip schools in any recruiting battle. This was unthinkable five years ago. Now, It’s a trend. A five-star QB spurning the West Coast powerhouses to commit to the Cougars is unprecedented. And top basketball prospect joining the Cougars? That’s the kind of story that rewrites a program's national perception, which Dybantsa has done.

If you're not paying attention to what’s happening in the Beehive State, you’re missing one of the most surprising and strategic NIL evolutions in college sports. The recruits are coming and BYU just might be the nation's next big power broker.

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

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