Cal Football: Bears Land RB Ashton Hayes, Who Flipped From Commitment to Nebraska

Three-star prospect rushed for 3,761 yards, 62 touchdowns in 3 prep seasons.

Cal picked up its 12th commitment in the class of 2022 on Monday when Ashton Hayes, a consensus 3-star running back from Reno, flipped from Nebraska in favor of the Golden Bears.

Coaching stability at Cal after significant staff changes at Nebraska may have been the key factor in Hayes’ decision to go with Cal. The Omaha World-Journal was first to report the news.

Ashton Hayes scores against Bishop Gorman High / Photo by L.E. Baskow, Las Vegas Review Journal

Justin Wilcox remains in Berkeley after being courted by Oregon and, reportedly, turning down their head-coaching offer on Friday.

At Nebraska, meanwhile, coach Scott Frost is making wholesale changes on his staff, including a new offensive coordinator. The Cornhuskers fired running backs coach Ryan Held — the primary recruiter of Hayes — and they have not yet hired a replacement.

“The new staff coming in doesn’t really know Ashton,” McQueen coach Jim Snelling told the Omaha World-Herald. “It just appeared to be a little bit better fit (at Cal). Ashton and his family were a little bit concerned about it.

"Talking with Coach Frost as well, he actually understood the situation and said, ‘You know what? You’ve still got a scholarship here,’ but encouraged Ashton to take a look and make sure he was 100% sure. The staff that recruited him at Cal was still there.”

Hayes is expected to make his commitment official on Wednesday, the start of the early signing period.

Hayes becomes the first running back in Cal’s recruiting class after losing a pair of earlier commitments, Jaydn Ott of Norco High in southern California and Kaleb Johnson of Hamilton High in Ohio.

He is the second offensive player to commit to Cal in recent days, joining junior college wide receiver Mason Starling.

Hayes, 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, rushed for 1,735 yards and 25 touchdowns this season, according to Max Preps, averaging 7.8 yards per carry. He had 358 rushing yards — the seventh-highest single-game total in state history — and four touchdowns in a win over Bishop Manogue.

McQueen finished the season 10-2 and ranked No. 8 in the state after losing 56-7 to powerhouse Bishop Gorman in the state 5A championship game.

Hayes rushed for 607 yards and seven TDs in a five-game season in 2020 after piling up 2,429 yards with 30 touchdowns as a sophomore, when he played for Damonte Ranch High in Reno.

He reportedly has run 4.48 for 40 yards.

A native of Erie, Pennsylvania, Hayes made recruiting visits to Cal and Nebraska on consecutive weekends in June before picking the Cornhuskers. He also made unofficial visits to Oregon and Oregon State and had offers from Stanford, Utah, Nevada, UNLV, Dartmouth and Yale, among others.

Snelling called Hayes a model student and said teachers on the McQueen campus have enjoyed having him in their classes, saying, “He’s a great athlete and an even better student.

“Those are the kind of guys you want to coach.”

Hayes is ranked by Rivals as the No. 8 overall prospect in the state of Nevada and the No. 30 running back in the nation. 247Sports also has him as No. 8 in the state and No. 49 nationally at his position.

Here are some highlights of Hayes (game highlights begin 2 minutes, 50 seconds into the video.):

Cover photo of Ashton Hayes by Jim Krajewski, RGJ via Image Content Services

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo