Patterson High School's Jaymioun Butler signed paperwork to continue his football career as a preferred walk-on member of the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team during a ceremony Wednesday afternoon. He is joined by family for the occasion. (The Daily Review/Corwin Murray)
Patterson's Jaymioun Butler is headed to Ragin' Cajuns
The Patterson High School bleachers were a sea of red Wednesday, but it wasn’t Lumberjack red and black. Rather, it was Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns’ red and white.
Standout defensive back Jaymioun Butler’s family, friends and teammates were decked out in Ragin’ Cajuns’ apparel to celebrate his signing to play college football for the Cajuns as a preferred walk-on.
Butler, however, wasn’t comfortable with all the attention, saying several times that he was ready to get the signing ceremony done.
“That’s Jaymioun,” Patterson Head Coach Don Jones said. “He’s a quiet, humble kid, but he’s a terror on the football field. He played downhill for us all season, and he was one the leaders of this program. I’m happy I got to coach the kid because he’s not just a strong ball player, but he’s a great kid.”
But offers weren’t coming in after Butler’s senior season like he hoped. He received an offer from Louisiana College and was in contact with Tulane, Southeastern and a couple other schools.
So, Butler decided to attend several skills camps, hoping to catch coaches’ eyes.
“I went to a bunch of camps, and I did pretty good,” Butler said. “I covered good, and I ran good and ULL’s coaches came up to me and told me that they liked me and that they would be in touch.”
Butler played out of position last season at safety after teammates in the secondary had trouble getting lined up.
“I’m not big enough to play safety in college, and I don’t see myself getting too much bigger,” he said.
Jones calls Butler a quiet leader.
“He never said a word about having to play out of position in his senior season,” Jones said. “He got everybody lined up and ready for the next play. ULL is getting a good football player, and it never hurts to get good character kids in your program.”
Butler was a second-team All-District 8-3 A defensive back selection as a senior.
Louisiana signed 25 total players in this recruiting cycle, including seven Wednesday.
The Ragin Cajuns will be bringing in more players, too.
Additional reporting by theadvocate.com/sports.