Jaydyn Sisk commits to Southern Utah, adds JUCO experience at quarterback

Jaydyn Sisk’s commitment gave Southern Utah something more valuable than another arm for the meeting room: a quarterback with college snaps, a decent production line and a clear sense that he expects to compete fast. The Garden City Community College passer announced his pledge to the Thunderbirds on May 21, and the fit was obvious from his side. Sisk said Southern Utah was the “best fit” because he can play right away in the Big Sky, a league he sees as the right stage for an immediate jump.

That matters for Southern Utah because this is not a long-view pickup. Sisk is a redshirt sophomore from Dallas, listed by Garden City at 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, and his 2025 numbers show a quarterback who has already handled a real workload: 56 completions on 96 attempts for 765 yards, 11 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Those are not empty reps. They are the kind of production that tells a staff it is getting a passer who has already had to answer questions on the field.

The relationship angle is just as important. Sisk had built trust with quarterbacks coach Will Brunson before the formal offer came on May 19, and Brunson liked Sisk’s ability to stress defenses as both a passer and a runner. Former Garden City head coach Kiyoshi Harris also backed the move, a meaningful endorsement from a coach whose Broncbuster program finished with consecutive top-10 national rankings during his two-year run. Harris resigned on Feb. 13 after a stint in which Garden City also sent 52 student-athletes to NCAA Division I schools.

Southern Utah’s timing tells its own story. The Thunderbirds are set to rejoin the Big Sky on July 1, 2026, returning to the conference where they previously played from 2012 to 2021. In that earlier run, Southern Utah won shared Big Sky titles in 2015 and 2017 and made three FCS playoff appearances. With the league expanding to 13 football members and scheduling nine conference games annually, the program is acting like a team that knows quarterback play can swing a season quickly.

That is why Sisk feels like an urgency add, not just a developmental one. Southern Utah did not bring in a low-risk project and hope he grows into the job years down the line. It brought in a live-armed, experience-tested passer who believes he can help now, and that usually says plenty about where a quarterback room stands.