“I’m very impressed with Walker. He’s a really well-rounded player. He’s a good blocker. He’s a great receiver. He’s smart. You can tell he’s been well coached and played really good football, and he’s going to be a big part of our offense.”BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick on Walker Lyons
Still, the 6-foot-4, 235-pound junior from Folsom, California, out of USC isn’t the most famous person in his family, much less his own current romantic relationship.
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“It’s pretty crazy,” Lyons said with a laugh last week when informed of that fact after the Cougars’ 11th practice of spring camp. “But I love it.”
Lyons, of course, is the older brother of quarterback Ryder Lyons, the four-star recruit (247Sports) who signed with BYU last December and is currently serving a Spanish-speaking mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Orlando, Florida. Ryder Lyons was California’s Gatorade Player of the Year as a junior, the nation’s No. 35 recruit in ESPN’s Top 300 last fall and the highest-rated recruit in the Kalani Sitake era.
Ryder Lyons has 293,000 followers on Instagram (Walker Lyons has 102,000 followers), but that’s nothing compared to Walker’s girlfriend since 2024, Rylee Arnold, who has 1.4 million followers on that social media website. He has 1.7 million followers on TikTok.
Because?
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Arnold, from Provo, is a professional ballroom dancer who has been a mainstay on the television series “Dancing with the Stars” for the past few seasons. The couple met in Los Angeles when Walker was playing for the Trojans and Arnold was working for the show in Hollywood.
Arnold publicly announced their relationship in October 2024, when Lyons was a freshman at USC after an 18-month assignment in Norway, Lyons said.
“His dad actually played football for BYU, which is funny,” he said. “We were in the same YSA (young single adults) ward there. We started dating and we got along really well, and we’ve been dating ever since, and it’s amazing. She’s amazing. She’s a great girl.”
Bringing a little Hollywood to Provo
In reality, Walker Lyons has been surrounded by stars his entire life; His grandfather, Kieth W. Merrill, has been a writer, director, producer and filmmaker since 1967 and received an Academy Award for the documentary “The Great American Cowboy” in 1973 and a nomination for “Amazon” in 1997.
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Walker Lyons said his grandfather’s middle name is Walker, which is where he got his unique name. He even had a cameo in one of Merrill’s films, “The 12 Dogs of Christmas: Big Puppy Rescue.”
Lyon is already one of the best players on the team
Walker Lyons’ time in Provo is also going well, BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said last week as the USC transfer tries to fill the shoes of 2025 standout tight end Carsen Ryan, a candidate for April’s NFL draft.
BYU tight end Walker Lyons runs after a catch during spring drills at BYU’s outdoor practice facility on March 2, 2026. | Jaren Wilkey, BYU photo
“Yes, it fits perfectly,” Roderick said. “I’m very impressed with Walker. He’s a really well-rounded player. He’s a good blocker. He’s a great receiver. He’s smart. You can tell he’s been well coached and played really good football, and he’s going to be a big part of our offense.”
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Lyons wasn’t the only tight end from a Big Ten school to transfer to BYU in January. Oregon’s Roger Saleapaga, who prepped at Orem High, is also having a fantastic camp.
“Without a doubt, both guys are two of the best players on our team,” Roderick said. Suddenly, BYU’s tight end group is as deep as it’s been in years, with senior Keayen Nead and redshirt sophomore Noah Moeaki also in the mix for serious playing time this fall.
“The tight ends stand out quite a bit for me, with Roger and Walker leading the way,” head coach Kalani Sitake said in the first week of spring camp. “Then you have some guys who have played a lot too, Keayen and Noah.”
Tight ends coach Kevin Gilbride said Lyons and Saleapaga have picked up the offense fairly quickly because they are both smart and have professional approaches to their craft.
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“They’re ahead of what I’ve seen from other transfers besides Carsen (a transfer from UCLA and Utah),” Gilbride said. “Carsen was there with them.”
BYU tight end Roger Saleapaga in action during spring camp in Provo on Feb. 27, 2026. | Aaron Cornia, BYU photo
Assistant tight ends coach Tyson McDaniel and offensive analyst Al Pupunu, a former NFL TE, also stepped in to make the transitions as smooth as possible, Gilbride said.
Does Lyons regret the trip he has taken?
Lyons said he was surprised by how quickly he picked up Roderick’s offense and learned the plays. He’s also already building “solid chemistry” with second-year quarterback Bear Bachmeier. Watching Bachmeier emerge as a breakout quarterback in 2025 and BYU using Ryan as much as it did were reasons he chose the Cougars after deciding to leave USC, he said.
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“I think deep down I knew I wanted to come here, but I definitely did my due diligence, I did my research to make sure it was the right fit for me,” he said. “After looking at a lot of different places, I felt like this was the place I wanted to be.”
Lyons said Bachmeier “put the entire nation on notice” last year that he was a legitimate Power Four quarterback and acknowledged that the return of an experienced quarterback from BYU was “absolutely” a key factor in his decision.
“I really saw a lot of Bear last season,” Lyons said. “I’m excited that we’ll have a full offseason together. It’s been fantastic so far and we’ll continue to build that good chemistry and hopefully carry the momentum from last year into next season.”
Lyons appeared in 11 games for USC last year and caught 20 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns. He had six catches for 36 yards in 2024. While USC is loaded with five- and four-star recruits, Lyons said the talent level isn’t all that different in Provo.
“I’m happy with how everything turned out. I’ve learned a lot along the way. From my mission, to going to USC, to now being here, I think it’s all been for a reason.”
BYU tight end Walker Lyons on his football journey
“In college football in general, there are athletes everywhere,” he said. “We have awesome guys here too. I really don’t think there will be a big drop off.”
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Lyons said his expectations for this year are to help BYU compete for a national and Big 12 championship and be the best tight end he can be.
“That’s the expectation they had of me when they recruited me here, and that’s the expectation I wanted,” he said. “I just want to maximize my potential, whatever that may be, and eventually be an All-American and get drafted into the NFL.”
Lyons has two seasons of eligibility remaining, but he won’t say definitively that he will be around in 2027, when his brother returns from his mission so they can play together for at least one season.
“I’m just taking it day by day, seeing how it goes, seeing where it takes us,” he said. “I’m just focusing on making this season the best it can be.”
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When Lyons chose USC over BYU and others in 2023, there was considerable angst in Provo as it appeared another high-profile recruit who was a member of the faith had slipped through the cracks. Do you regret anything?
“Not really,” he said. “I’m happy with how everything turned out. I’ve learned a lot along the way. From my mission, to going to USC, to now being here, I think everything has been for a reason.
“Every step of the journey has led me to where I am today, which is amazing,” he continued.
And he also has a great dance partner.
BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick answers questions during the Signing Day media availability in Provo, Feb. 4, 2026. | BYU Photo