When Jalaythan Mayfield received a call from James Laurinaitis in late March earlier this year, he was in an interesting location to receive some pretty big news.
As Mayfield sat in his car at a Wendy’s parking lot in North Carolina alongside his brother and saw Laurinaitis calling, he couldn’t help but feel a little “weird” answering the call given his location, but it turned out to be well worth his while.
“It was a little weird, but it was very exciting,” Mayfield told Eleven Warriors Thursday.
Laurinaitis told him the good news, that he had received an offer to Ohio State. That put a pep in Mayfield’s step, who went into the fast food restaurant to order a “Biggie Bag” meal with his brother.
“We were both excited about it,” Mayfield said. “Especially with them just coming off a national championship. Headed home with that offer with me, that’s a big offer for sure.”
A few months later, Mayfield got to experience being coached by Laurinaitis in person. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound linebacker traveled to Columbus for the Buckeyes’ first recruiting camp of the summer on Thursday and was arguably the top linebacker at camp. The North Carolina standout with nearly 20 Division I offers showcased his raw athleticism, pass coverage and attention to detail in individual and one-on-one drills.
“It was exciting, I love the way he coaches,” Mayfield told Eleven Warriors of the opportunity to work out with Laurinaitis. “I feel like I got better today. I definitely learned some stuff that I can take back home. He’s a teacher, he gets excited and gets all riled up and I like that. I can feel the passion from what he’s saying. I feel like he’s a great coach. He was a dog at Ohio State and I want to be the same way. Getting developed by a person like that, I can get to be like how he was, or better from a teacher like that.”
Mayfield hails from North Carolina and is considered the No. 166 prospect and the No. 10 linebacker in the 2027 class per 247Sports’ composite rankings. He’s coming off a strong junior season where he accumulated 109 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, three fumble recoveries, a pass deflection, two forced fumbles and a blocked field goal. Following his visit to Ohio State on Thursday, Mayfield is already set on returning to Columbus for a gameday trip.
“I definitely want to get back here,” Mayfield said. “Probably in the fall. Texas and Penn State do sound like some good games to go to, but I’m just trying to get here whenever.”
