Sherrone Moore might have the best QB of the 2025 class on his roster. The HC was the talk of the town with his recruiting heroics in flipping Bryce Underwood from LSU. But, can Moore look to do the unthinkable and pull a repeat of those heroics with the 2026 class well? Not without some serious competition. For landing elite QB Ryder Lyons, Moore has to fight off a huge rival that’s ready to take off with the recruit any moment now. Actually, make the number of rivals two.
Underwood was the No. 1 QB of the 2025 class. Lyons is the No. 3 QB of the 2026 class. They’re both elite players. And if Moore had both of them in his arsenal down the line, there’s no limit to the possibilities that could occur. But Lyona is a guy that all the biggies want. He’d narrowed down his favorites to 6 teams, including Michigan. There’s no way Moore is willing to miss out on a guy that had a pass completion percentage of 68%, and threw for 3,875 yards and a whopping 38 TDs in one season. And that’s only in 2023. His receiving yards dropped to 3,011 in 2024, but he topped the TD record with 46. Lyons still has one more year of high school left!
Except, with a recruiting juggernaut in the mix, Moore might have to reconsider. Word comes from On3’s Chad Simmons that Lyons is nearly there in closing the deal with USC. “Michigan has had his attention, but USC is leading the way for Ryder Lyons,” wrote Simmons. 247Sports’ Crystal Ball prediction says he’s a 100% going to Lincoln Riley. Lyons has been to the Trojans many times now, and like Simmons said, it looks like “Lincoln Riley‘s program is in the driver’s seat.” Walker Lyons, Ryder’s brother, is currently with USC. The family connection is a big advantage for Riley, and a major downer for Moore. “[He] watched his brother Walker Lyons at practice and he likes what Riley and the staff there are building,” added Simmons.
Ever since Chad Bowden arrived at USC, the Trojans’ recruiting has been stellar. Riley currently sits at No.2 in the 2026 recruiting class, just under LSU. The HC already has a 5-star quarterback from the 2025 class, Husan Longstreet, fighting for a QB1 chance. For Moore, the problem is not just Riley; Lyons seemed to have another preference over the Wolverines, apart from the Trojans.
Ryder Lyons was also interested in heading to Oregon
Oregon has been just as relentless as Riley in getting Lyons to commit. He visited the Ducks last week, after he’d dropped by Michigan. “Coach (Will) Stein, coach (Dan) Lanning, how they’re doing as a program, they’re just building and building. Me and coach Stein have a great relationship, probably the best out of any other coaches,” Lyons told On3 in March. He also noted then that Lanning and Co. have been “recruiting [him] the hardest probably, the whole time.”
Oregon’s LDS community was a key reason for his interest here. However, even if Lyons decides to move on from Oregon, Lanning can still have another elite QB on board. Jared Curtis is more inclined towards Oregon, unlike Lyons. In fact, it was because of this factor that the latter didn’t seem any more vocal about joining the Ducks. If he does land at USC, it becomes easier for Curtis to make his way over to Oregon. The Ducks are currently sitting at the No. 4 position in the 2026 class.
So, if Riley manages to land Lyons, he could truly look to be the HC everyone expected him to be when he first arrived at USC. Having Lyons is not only a major recruiting win, but a serious advantage for his roster down the line. On the other hand, it seems that the recruiting brilliance at Michigan will rest with Underwood. Moore has one elite QB on his roster currently, and so does Riley. The latter, however, will soon have two, if Lyons decides to commit to the Trojans.
The post Tensions Rise for Sherrone Moore as Concerning Ryder Lyons Bombshell Rocks Michigan Amid B1G Rivals’ Aggressive Push appeared first on EssentiallySports.