WS Chronicle

Ty Lyles had a high school career that you really only see in the movies. Multiple state championships and more accolades than you can count. In less than a month, Lyles will head to Conway, South Carolina, and enroll in Coastal Carolina University.

Lyles had several offers from different schools, but chose Coastal because it seemed to be the best fit for him.

“It is a good environment, and the coaching staff was loyal throughout the whole process and the people on the team are good people, so I felt it was a good fit for me,” Lyles said about his decision to attend Coastal Carolina.

Lyles will head to Coastal as a quarterback prospect. With his stellar high school career and playing on one of the toughest levels in the state, Lyles has the resume and confidence to compete for the starting job early on in his college career.

As a senior, Lyles was looking forward to the opportunity to three-peat as state champions, along with enjoying the recruiting period. Unfortunately for Lyles and many other seniors around the country, his experience of going on recruiting trips and the possibility for a third championship was ruined due to COVID-19.

“It did mess up my senior year because I am not going to be able to play this year since they are playing in the spring and I will be gone in January,” he said. “It messed the way I work out, it messed up school, it really just messed up my entire lifestyle to be honest.”

According to Lyles, he will be one of the first signees from the 2021 recruiting class to head to Coastal. He is eager to get an early start to his collegiate career to show what he is made of.

Lyles has showed tremendous growth since he stepped onto the East Forsyth campus as a freshman. He feels his time on the JV football team allowed him to grow and learn the quarterback position.

“My JV season was a season that I really just learned how to play football at the next level, even though I was talented,” he continued. “One of my favorite games, as I remember sophomore year, against Page, I guess you could say was my breakout game. I had three touchdowns and 250 yards in the win.”

Lyles credits the Eagles’ coaching staff for assisting him with his progression as a quarterback during his time at East Forsyth.

“The coaching staff pushed me a lot,” he said. “They obviously saw that I had talent coming in freshman year, but they wanted me to get better and not stay at a standstill and keep producing so I could play at the next level.”

As one of the younger players on the varsity team his sophomore season, Lyles says his teammates really stepped up by helping him through the day-to-day rigors of being the quarterback of the team. He says they would  routinely give him encouraging words not only on the field, but in the classroom as well.

Coastal Carolina is having a once-in-a-lifetime season in 2020, going undefeated through the regular season. The Chanticleers came up short in the Cure Bowl against Liberty in overtime. However. Lyles said he talks to the coaching staff several times a week, staying abreast of how the team is doing, along with ways to prepare him for next season.

Another reason Lyles decided to go with Coastal is due to the similar style of offense he ran with the Eagles. He feels that is best suited for his skillset being a dual threat quarterback that can throw and run.

“It’s similar to our offense, but it’s a little bit of a difference,” Lyles continued. “It’s more of a spread option type of offense, but I am used to that. I am more comfortable in the shotgun, but when I have to get under center, I will. I just feel more comfortable in the shotgun, running option plays that give me options to do what I have to do, instead of just one play and if it doesn’t work, it’s not going to get anywhere.”

Lyles is humble enough to realize that even though he enjoyed a lot of success on the high school level, playing Division I football is a totally different monster.

“Honestly, I feel like I can work on getting my body in better shape so I cannot be injury-prone in the future,” Lyles continued. “I feel like I can also work on the mental aspect of the game to come in more focused so I can know where to go before the play is called, knowing the plays and understanding my teammates.”

Lyles says his mother, Shaunta Lyles-Dixon, liked Coastal a lot during the recruitment process, but he was still contemplating other schools at the time. Once he made up his mind, he says his mother backed his decision 100 percent.

“When I told her I wanted to go to Coastal, she was right on board with it,” he continued. “She told me she was going to go wherever my heart took me, so when I chose Coastal, she actually was happy for me.”

For Lyles-Dixon, seeing her son move on to the next level is a bittersweet moment. She says she enjoyed watching the brotherhood her son had with his teammates at East Forsyth. She had a similar feeling about Coastal, which was one of the reasons the school was attractive to her as well.

“It was just a family atmosphere there,” she said.  “When we went down there to visit, all the coaches already knew about Ty and talked to him like he was already a part of the program. The head coach was also spiritual, and he talked about God and that’s one of our number one things, having a relationship with God.

“It just seemed like it was the perfect fit when we went down there, like it was family from the first time we went there.”

Lyles-Dixon stated it will be difficult when the family drops Ty off at Coastal next month. She has been preparing for the moment, but knows it will still be hard to say goodbye.

“It’s going to be hard and I am already thinking about it,” she stated. “I’m actually about to talk to my husband about staying the weekend just in case he needs to call or needs anything that weekend. I have been going through a lot of emotions and sometimes I tear up or just stare at him. My emotions are all over the place at this point and I am going to miss him, but as long as he stays focused and does what he needs to do, I am happy for him.”

It was disappointing for Lyles not to have the opportunity to play for a third championship with the Eagles. However, he is pleased with the legacy he has left at East Forsyth.  

“I am happy with the legacy I am leaving at East, but I feel like my senior year I could have done more,” he said confidently. “I definitely think we could have brought a third ring to the school and hopefully a third MVP.”