By Kyle Roberts
Louisiana Tech landed a home-grown gem Wednesday morning when state champion and Ruston High linebacker Jadon Mayfield made it official and chose the Bulldogs.
“It feels good to get the process over with,” Mayfield said. “Now, it’s time to get to work. It’s a blessing; it’s bittersweet to be moving on from this school. But I feel great about (signing with Tech).”
Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh believes that Mayfield can have an immediate impact on Louisiana Tech given his motor and skill set.
“Those guys have struggled the past couple of years,” Baugh said. “I think he’ll have the possibility to probably play really quickly and and help them out. He’ll be a big part of their rebuilding process that they’ve got going on, in my opinion.”
Louisiana Tech head coach Sonny Cumbie described Mayfield as an “all-everything” linebacker.
“Jadon has a high football IQ and makes plays sideline-to-sideline,” Cumbie said. “He has the potential to be an impact player on our defense.”
Bearcat defensive coordinator Kyle Williams praised the group consisting of Mayfield along with seniors Ahmad Breaux and Geordan Guidry, who also signed Wednesday to play college ball, for what they’ve accomplished for the program.
“They are extremely high character kids,” Williams said. “They obviously different skill sets, different sizes, and do different things, as far as it comes to play in. But to me, the reason that they have an opportunity to be successful is because of who they are. Away from football, they’re high character kids. They’re great teammates. They love each other and they love playing football.”
Mayfield finished the season as the All-LPJ Defensive Player of the Year and District 2-5A Defensive Player of the Year after amassing 114 tackles, five sacks, one interception and one fumble recovery.
