Ryan Yaites says LSU "was always home"
In December, the LSU football staff signed Texas four-star safety Ryan Yaites out of one of the state’s top programs at Guyer in Denton.
For Yaites, it was the final chapter to a recruiting process that saw him land double-digit scholarship offers before committing to the Tigers on April 15, 2022.
And even with an early verbal pledge to LSU’s staff, other schools – like the Oklahoma Sooners – worked to get Yaites to campus and flip him away from the Tigers.
Yaites said he never wavered, and when decision day arrived, he was more confident than ever in LSU being his college destination.
“It was always home,” Yaites said. “Even after going to all the places I went to, I felt like it wasn’t for me.
“When I made the decision with (LSU safeties coach Kerry Cooks), we talked on the phone and I told him that all those places aren’t like LSU. The DB room isn’t like LSU. Those places aren’t like Baton Rouge. Death Valley isn’t like those other schools. That’s what really made me stay home.”
Yaites was one of LSU’s first commitments into the 2023 class, but by December’s Early Signing Period, there was plenty more help on the way at defensive back.
LSU reeled in Texas four-star Javien Toviano just ahead of the signing period’s arrival, which put a bow on a class that also included Yaites, safety Kylin Jackson, safety Michael Daugherty, cornerback Jeremiah Hughes and defensive back Ashton Stamps.
“I am so excited about the future,” Yaites said. “I was really excited when I first joined the class. Me and Michael Daugherty were the first two to commit. Then we really got rolling.
“Seeing how the DB room is being built, it’s going to be special. It’s always been DBU, and we are coming in to keep that name.”
LSU returns a pair of veterans who started at safety this past season in Major Burns and Greg Brooks Jr. The Tigers also have Sage Ryan back in the fold, and Ryan saw action at both nickel and safety in 2022.
With Jordan Allen coming off his freshman year as a backup at nickel and a member of the safety room, and second-year safety Matthew Langlois battling through a season-ending injury, the next names up are the crop of incoming freshmen safeties.
“The message from Coach Cooks has been about availability and getting ready to play,” Yaites said. “That’s the main things he has been talking to me about. As a freshman, he wants to see me on the field. He wants me to be able to move around, whether it’s playing strong safety or playing free safety or even in the nickel. Coach Cooks wants me to available to do all that.”
Yaites is set to enroll at LSU this month and take part in spring workouts and practices with the team.
For the four-star prospect, leaving Texas for Louisiana is made all the more exciting after seeing the results of year one under Brian Kelly and the staff.
“That first game (against Florida State), a lot of people had questions,” Yaites said. “I said we would remain humble and win games, because that’s what Brian Kelly told me. He said they would compete, and that made me not only love them more, but really reminded me of the reason I’m going there.”
Yaites is ranked by the On3 Consensus as the No. 16 safety prospect in the 2023 class.
