Colorado lands commitment from Pittsburgh EDGE Dayon Hayes

Colorado has landed a transfer commitment from former Pittsburgh EDGE Dayon Hayes, according to On3’s Hayes Fawcett.

He posted the news on Twitter Sunday afternoon, writing:

“BREAKING: Former Pitt EDGE Dayon Hayes has Committed to Colorado, he tells @on3sports Totaled 81 Tackles, 27 TFL, 13 Sacks, & 3 FFs in his career thus far Was the Top Available EDGE in the Transfer Portal (per On3).”

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The Pittsburgh, PA native played in 12 games last season for the Panthers, recording eleven starts. Then, this season, Hayes returned to put up career-highs, recording 45 total tackles, 25 solo, 10.5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, four passes defended, and one fumble. As a Panther, he totaled 81 tackles, including 44 solo, 25.5 tackles for loss, and 12 sacks over a 39-game span.

Before college, Hayes played high school football at Westinghouse High School in Pittsburgh, PA. He was listed as a four-star prospect in the 2021 recruiting class, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Hayes was the nation’s No. 266 recruit, ranked 33 among defensive linemen, and was the third-best player to come out of the state of Pennsylvania in his class.

Since Deion Sanders has taken over as the head coach at Colorado, the Buffaloes have been one of the most active teams in the portal including both players leaving the program and players coming into the program. Among the big names to transfer to Colorado are his quarterback and son Shedeur Sanders and two-way star Travis Hunter.

To this point in the 2024 cycle, Colorado has the No. 2 ranked transfer class, according to the On3 College Football Team Transfer Portal Rankings. There are 35 players who have transferred out and 26 who have transferred into the Colorado program since the end of last season — quite a bit of commotion for team.

One thing that head coach Deion Sanders will need to navigate is getting the Colorado roster to 85 scholarship players. Between incoming transfers and freshmen, teams often need to see players transfer to not end up above that number. Colorado will certainly have no issue having too many players at this rate.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.