Four-star safety, Ryan Yaites, was one of the commits that got LSU’s recruiting momentum started. The safety from Denton Guyer High School in Denton, Texas committed to the Tigers in mid-April.
Yaites is a 6-foot, 190-pound safety, and is ranked as the No. 14 safety in the country, the No. 37 recruit in the state of Texas and the No. 215 overall recruit in the country.
Yaites was LSU’s fourth commitment to its Class of 2023 during a time where many questions surrounded the program on how Head Coach Brian Kelly would be able to recruit in the SEC. But Yaites connected with Kelly and the staff right away, and he saw the potential that they have with the resources they now have to be successful at LSU.
“Really what made the school [LSU] for me was the coaches and the program,” Yaites said in an interview. “It’s not only a good college program, but it’s the SEC Network, the people they have around it, Coach House, Brian Kelly, Kerry Cooks, those guys, those are what made my decision easy I’d say.”
Yaites is especially close with Brian Kelly, and he’s been able to develop a close bond with him ever since he arrived in Baton Rouge.
“Every time I come back, I could always just see two or three pictures of me and Brian Kelly just laughing,” Yaites said. “I was looking on the LSU 247sports, and I can’t even remember the full conversation, but it was just me laughing and Brian Kelly patting me on my back.”
The more times Yaites visited Baton Rouge during the offseason, the more he saw how the staff is determined to turn the program around. He’s confident that they could be on pace to do so.
“Me going up there during the unofficials, going up there for spring ball watching them practice, watching the Spring Game, you can definitely see things are going to turn around that program,” Yaites said.
Recruiting wise, the staff has been able to kickoff the rebuild that the program expected them to start. Since Yaites’ commitment, the Tigers have landed 15 commitments, including four commitments from secondary position players. What Yaites sees in this new coaching staff clearly isn’t uncommon, as many other players see it too.
Regardless of how the first season under Kelly goes for the team this year, the newcomers next year seem poised to push the program in the right direction.
