USC Trojans Coach Lincoln Riley Visits Ryder Lyons, Five-Star Quarterback Recruit

The USC Trojans have had their focus fixated on five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons for quite some time. Now that Lyons is entering his senior season next fall, USC coach Lincoln Riley has zeroed in on making Lyons the next USC quarterback commit.
Riley made the trip out to Northern California to visit with Lyons at his high school, Folsom.
Incredibly grateful for @uscfb Head Coach @LincolnRiley to make another trip to Folsom to recruit our players. @walkerly0ns & @NelaKeyTupou @ryderly0ns @FolsomBulldogFB @coach_angel3 @coachtc43 @CoachIrsik1 @ThePancakeU @CoachScottRob @CoachZachHanson @CoachTravisFHS pic.twitter.com/s3CCdaa7ww
— NorCal Passing Academy (@Passing_Academy) January 17, 2025
Lyons is ranked as a five-star prospect and the No. 4 quarterback in the country according to 247Sports Composite rankings. He's been heavily linked to the Trojans and 247Sports has logged two crystal ball predictions to USC from Tom Loy and Greg Biggins.
Biggins wrote that Lyons could end up being the No. 1 quarterback prospect in his class when it is all said and done.
"Lyons is on the short list when talking about the top overall signal caller in the ’26 class. He's coming off a huge sophomore season where he showed off his rare ability as a thrower and runner and accounted for 61 all-purpose touchdowns. The ability to make throws from in and out of the pocket and was accurate to all three levels of the field," Biggins wrote.
Lyons has also been given a 97.8 percent chance of siding with the Trojans according to On3's Recruiting Prediction Machine.
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Another big reason why the Trojans are considered the frontrunners in Lyons' recruitment? His older brother is USC's true freshman tight end Walker Lyons. However, the talented quarterback is also interested in Oregon, Ole Miss, and other schools as well.
If Lyons were to pull the trigger on the Trojans' offer, he would become the highest rated player in their recruiting class. USC's 2026 class is currently No. 3 in the nation with eight commitments, five of them hailing from Southern California. He would become the sixth player from the state of California as Riley continues to make the effort to recruit the state.
USC will battle both Ole Miss and Oregon into the spring and potentially even the summer as Lyons heads into his senior season in the fall.
A interesting component to Lyons' recruitment is the question of whether or not he will participate in a Mormon mission, which would delay his enrollment by a year similarly to his brother who enrolled in 2024, despite being a 2023 graduate.
With USC landing one of the best quarterback recruits in the class of 2025 in Husan Longstreet, and the Trojans in the hunt for another top quarterback recruit in 2026, it's hard to see the production at the quarterback position slowing down anytime soon.
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