Skip to main content
Join

North Carolina offers 2026 5-star QB Ryder Lyons

hunterby:Hunter Shelton•about 17 hours•

HunterShelton_

Ryder Lyons

The new staff at North Carolina has extended its first big offer at the quarterback position.

Head coach Bill Belichick, offensive assistant Matt Lombardi and Co. are officially in the mix for Folsom (Calif.) five-star QB Ryder Lyons, one of the nation’s top uncommitted prospects in the 2026 cycle.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound signal-caller announced the offer from the Tar Heels on Friday:

January has already been fruitful for Lyons, who also announced an offer from Arizona on Friday. He’s been visited by multiple coaches since the January contact period opened, with the likes of Ole Miss, Michigan and Washington stopping in to see Folsom.

North Carolina will be an enticing destination for many recruits thanks to the arrival of Belichick. The legendary NFL head coach has been tackling the recruiting trail head-on so far this month, getting out to see plenty of schools and top prospects around the country.

As of Jan. 10, UNC’s lone commitment in the 2026 cycle is from a QB. Charlotte Providence Day three-star Zaid Lott pledged last summer and remained in the mix for the in-state school as it transitioned from former head coach Mack Brown to Belichick.

Lyons is a big-time target across the nation. Last month, he was named the 2024 Gatorade California Football Player of the Year, throwing for 2,874 yards and 44 touchdowns while also rushing for 556 yards and 12 TDs as a junior for Folsom.

The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine continues to favor USC for Lyons. He told On3 during the fall that he felt a commitment was “coming sooner than later,” though he remains on the board heading into the back half of winter.

“USC is high on my list. There is a lot to like about USC. You have coach Riley. He has coached great quarterbacks that have won the Heisman Trophy and been drafted No. 1 in the NFL Draft. He is a great offensive mind and the defense is now playing at a different level,” Lyons told On3 in September.

North Carolina will look to get Lyons out to Chapel Hill and cement its place in his recruitment as 2025 progresses. Lyons is the No. 10 overall prospect and No. 3 QB in the 2026 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

He has an an On3 NIL Valuation of $474K. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athletes’ projected annual value (PAV). The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.