Behind The Scenes: LSU Football Lands Top-10 Quarterback in America Peyton Houston

Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers reeled in the program's first commitment in the 2027 Recruiting Cycle on Monday once Peyton "Pop" Houston went public with a pledge to the hometown school.

The Shreveport (La.) Evangel Christian four-star quarterback comes in as a Top-10 overall signal-caller in America with Kelly and Co. winning out for the elite prospect with Louisiana ties.

Houston is coming off of a sophomore season in 2024 where he completed 310-of-443 (70 percent) passing attempts for 4,480 yards and 38 touchdowns to only six interceptions.

The 5-foot-10, 202-pounder also rushed the ball 105 times for 690 yards and seven scores on his way to rewriting the record books for his prep squad.

Following the dominant sophomore season last fall and Houston's recruitment blew up with over 20 Division I schools intensifying their pursuits - including the LSU Tigers, Georgia Bulldogs, Alabama Crimson Tide, Texas Longhorns, Georgia Bulldogs, Oklahoma Sooners, and USC Trojans.

LSU Tigers Football: Peyton Houston. — Courtesy of Peyton Houston's Instagram [via: @focusedbyjai].

But three programs began separating from the pack following unofficial visits during the spring.

LSU, Oklahoma and USC emerged as the contenders as Houston narrowed his focus towards the powerhouse schools while the summer months rolled on.

The Louisiana native took a pair of unofficial visits to USC this offseason where Lincoln Riley and the Trojans picked up steam as the favorites as crystal ball predictions came rolling in for the West Coast program.

But Houston remained on the board without revealing a commitment decision.

Fast forward to his junior campaign opening up at the end of August and the Houston USC buzz slowed down with one SEC program gaining momentum - the Oklahoma Sooners.

Brent Venables and Co. had all the steam following an unofficial visit to Norman (Okla.) with the Houston camp locking in a commitment date for Sept. 15.

Brian Kelly and the LSU Tigers Football program firmly in the mix for Louisiana quarterback, Peyton Houston. — Courtesy of Peyton Houston's X/Twitter: @PeytonHouston8.

Despite the outside chatter from USC and Oklahoma this offseason, the LSU Tigers continued chipping away behind the scenes spearheaded by offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Joe Sloan.

Sloan and the LSU staff kept Houston a priority with the program ultimately receiving the final unofficial visit prior to "Decision Day" on Monday, Sept. 15.

The Tigers had Houston in Baton Rouge for the program's SEC opener against the Florida Gators on Sept. 13 where the Louisiana native took a multi-day stay on campus.

After meetings with the coaching staff, time spent with the players and a night in Tiger Stadium where the atmosphere was electric, LSU's odds to secure Houston grew more and more heading into Decision Day.

“We got to spend a lot of time with (offensive coordinator Joe) Sloan and were able to get inside of his mind and see what he likes to do with the quarterbacks, what he preaches, harps on," Peyton told Rivals this offseason.

"And we got to see the ‘bad’ side of him, too, for sure, when he had to get into the quarterbacks. But that’s where you want to be. You don’t want a coach that’ll just kind of let you laissez faire everything, but will be on you and not let anything slide.

“And we got to see what life outside of football would be like and the programs they’ve got set up for the players and how they can suit them to get to the next level and also to be prepared outside of football.”

Once the dust settled off of the visit on Sunday night, the LSU Tigers began surging for the No. 2 rated signal-caller in Louisiana with the program emerging as the favorite.

Then, on Monday morning, Houston popped to the LSU Tigers as the program's first commitment in the 2027 Recruiting Cycle with the Bayou Bengals landing their cornerstone piece to next year's class.

Now, LSU will look to build out the 2027 cycle with one of the top quarterbacks in America pledged to the program with all eyes on what's next in Baton Rouge.

More LSU News:

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LSU Football Battling to Flip a Five-Star Oregon Ducks Commit, Set to Visit Tigers

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