GAME-CHANGER
11/20/2025 11:00:00 AM | Soccer, My Baylor Story
SOC: Tyler Isgrig leaving a legacy behind after helping rebuild the program
When Tyler Isgrig committed to Baylor nearly three years ago, coach Michelle Lenard felt like she hit the transfer portal lottery, signing a TCU transfer that was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman team.
"It was huge to get a player who could come in and be a game-changer," Lenard said of Isgrig, who has had 22 goals and 25 assists in her Baylor career, going into Thursday's NCAA Tournament second-round game against Wisconsin in South Bend, Ind.
"Ty is definitely a game-changer, but also someone who believed in the vision we had for the program. And not everybody was able to see that at first. After that first year, four wins, for her to say, 'Hey, I believe in what you guys are doing, and I believe what you're saying can truly happen.' I'll be forever grateful for Ty doing that."
Looking at schools in the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 when she entered the portal in December 2022, Tyler said she committed to Baylor "out of the blue," deciding she wanted to "come and rebuild a program."
"The winter portal was pretty rough at the time," she said. "Especially with all of the grad years taking a lot of scholarships, it was kind of hard to find a program that was able to financially support you at the same time. My club team coach (Solar's Ben Williams) spoke really highly of Michelle and thought she was going to do big things here. I was just excited to come to a program and rebuild. And it was still close to home, so that ended up being a plus."
Waco was just a hop, skip and a jump from Fort Worth, where Tyler scored six goals as a freshman for a TCU team that made the Big 12 Tournament final and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament, also in South Bend. The Arlington, Texas, native had a TopDrawer Soccer ranking of No. 24 for college freshman impact player.
Tyler said she "went into it a little bit blindly" and didn't realize she would value Baylor's faith-based atmosphere.
"Especially now, about to leave Baylor, I really appreciate having a lot of people with just good morals and very humble people around me," she said. "That comes in my teammates and my coaches, like Michelle and Fleur (Benatar) and Cole (Ouren), who has been like a mentor for me and is also my midfield coach. Having people like that that will push you spiritually and also on the field has been really good for me."
A three-year team captain at Baylor, Tyler admits that she was "a little bit of a loose cannon" when she first arrived on campus.
"Literally, we had a locker room meeting my first month here," she said. "And I was like, 'Okay, we want to make this, we need to make it to this, we need to be in the tournament. Everyone needs to be on the same page here.' I think the coaches appreciated a lot of those qualities. And also, just the fact that I've always trained with a professional mindset. Which, going to the next phase of my life, hopefully that mindset helps me in that area, too. I definitely always hold others to the same standards. So, I think that helped me at a young age."
A North Carolina transfer, Kai Hayes said Isgrig has obviously been able to help the team on the field, "but off the field as well, just being able to lighten the mood and throw a little giggle in here and there."
"She's there when we need it all the time, on and off the field," Hayes said, "and when we need an assist or a goal or defensively as well. I just love her so much, and what's been able to do for this program is incredible."
Playing forward in each of her first three collegiate seasons, Tyler scored 19 goals and had 20 assists, earning second-team All-Big 12 honors last year after being on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team with the Horned Frogs in 2022.
But she added to her resume this year, switching to the center midfield position and scoring a career-high nine goals with eight assists. A first-team All-Big 12 pick and the league's Midfielder of the Year, Tyler ranks fourth all-time in program history with 25 assists, the most by a Baylor player in the last 25 years.
"The freedom the coaching staff allowed me to have over the past two years helped me develop that comfort a little bit," she said of the switched to midfielder. "I had been wanting to play center mid for a minute. I played half the game at center mid in the exhibition games, just to get more reps. We just needed someone to be able to play-make and feed our forwards, because we have a lot of talented forwards on this team.
"I feel like I've been able to find a flow and be comfortable in the position. I can use both feet equally, so it just feels kind of freeing to be able to go both ways, versus having the restriction of a sideline."
Not surprised by the success she's had in a new position, Lenard said "Ty's a great player, regardless of where you put her on the field."
"She's a competitor," Lenard said of Isgrig. "She wants to win, she wants to make this program into something special. She wants to win now, but she also wants to leave a legacy. And I think we've seen that in her three years here, whether she's playing as a winger or a midfielder, she's grown into each role. Every time we've asked her to do something new or add something to her resume, she's done that."
After earning her undergrad degree in journalism, Tyler is working on her MBA, but she plans to "take a pause with that and go into, hopefully, the January window (for pro soccer)."
"Playing attacking mid has been a lot of fun for me," she said, "and I'm thinking that will add a level of versatility for my professional profile, that I'm able to play winger or forward or attacking mid."
Tyler will attend the NWSL Combine next month in Florida "and then I'm hoping to either sign here (in the U.S.) or possibly go overseas. I really just want to keep playing, because I'll still only be 21 in the January window. I feel like I could play for at least a few more years. I just want to see where my prime is."
With a goal of rebuilding the Baylor program, Tyler Isgrig definitely leaves a legacy behind, leading a 13-4-4 team that is now three wins away from the program's first appearance in the College Cup.
"I hope people will recognize that I had an influence in the program," she said, "how I've always been a consistent, strong leader. That's one thing that I really take a lot of pride in is being consistent. Whether that's in my attitude or in my play or my effort, I always want to be consistent in those things. Sure, I can ball, but I'm consistent, too. And I hope I've become a better person off the field. That's really important to me as well."
"It was huge to get a player who could come in and be a game-changer," Lenard said of Isgrig, who has had 22 goals and 25 assists in her Baylor career, going into Thursday's NCAA Tournament second-round game against Wisconsin in South Bend, Ind.
"Ty is definitely a game-changer, but also someone who believed in the vision we had for the program. And not everybody was able to see that at first. After that first year, four wins, for her to say, 'Hey, I believe in what you guys are doing, and I believe what you're saying can truly happen.' I'll be forever grateful for Ty doing that."
Looking at schools in the SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 when she entered the portal in December 2022, Tyler said she committed to Baylor "out of the blue," deciding she wanted to "come and rebuild a program."
"The winter portal was pretty rough at the time," she said. "Especially with all of the grad years taking a lot of scholarships, it was kind of hard to find a program that was able to financially support you at the same time. My club team coach (Solar's Ben Williams) spoke really highly of Michelle and thought she was going to do big things here. I was just excited to come to a program and rebuild. And it was still close to home, so that ended up being a plus."
Waco was just a hop, skip and a jump from Fort Worth, where Tyler scored six goals as a freshman for a TCU team that made the Big 12 Tournament final and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament, also in South Bend. The Arlington, Texas, native had a TopDrawer Soccer ranking of No. 24 for college freshman impact player.
Tyler said she "went into it a little bit blindly" and didn't realize she would value Baylor's faith-based atmosphere.
"Especially now, about to leave Baylor, I really appreciate having a lot of people with just good morals and very humble people around me," she said. "That comes in my teammates and my coaches, like Michelle and Fleur (Benatar) and Cole (Ouren), who has been like a mentor for me and is also my midfield coach. Having people like that that will push you spiritually and also on the field has been really good for me."
A three-year team captain at Baylor, Tyler admits that she was "a little bit of a loose cannon" when she first arrived on campus.
"Literally, we had a locker room meeting my first month here," she said. "And I was like, 'Okay, we want to make this, we need to make it to this, we need to be in the tournament. Everyone needs to be on the same page here.' I think the coaches appreciated a lot of those qualities. And also, just the fact that I've always trained with a professional mindset. Which, going to the next phase of my life, hopefully that mindset helps me in that area, too. I definitely always hold others to the same standards. So, I think that helped me at a young age."
A North Carolina transfer, Kai Hayes said Isgrig has obviously been able to help the team on the field, "but off the field as well, just being able to lighten the mood and throw a little giggle in here and there."
"She's there when we need it all the time, on and off the field," Hayes said, "and when we need an assist or a goal or defensively as well. I just love her so much, and what's been able to do for this program is incredible."
Playing forward in each of her first three collegiate seasons, Tyler scored 19 goals and had 20 assists, earning second-team All-Big 12 honors last year after being on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team with the Horned Frogs in 2022.
But she added to her resume this year, switching to the center midfield position and scoring a career-high nine goals with eight assists. A first-team All-Big 12 pick and the league's Midfielder of the Year, Tyler ranks fourth all-time in program history with 25 assists, the most by a Baylor player in the last 25 years.
"The freedom the coaching staff allowed me to have over the past two years helped me develop that comfort a little bit," she said of the switched to midfielder. "I had been wanting to play center mid for a minute. I played half the game at center mid in the exhibition games, just to get more reps. We just needed someone to be able to play-make and feed our forwards, because we have a lot of talented forwards on this team.
"I feel like I've been able to find a flow and be comfortable in the position. I can use both feet equally, so it just feels kind of freeing to be able to go both ways, versus having the restriction of a sideline."
Not surprised by the success she's had in a new position, Lenard said "Ty's a great player, regardless of where you put her on the field."
"She's a competitor," Lenard said of Isgrig. "She wants to win, she wants to make this program into something special. She wants to win now, but she also wants to leave a legacy. And I think we've seen that in her three years here, whether she's playing as a winger or a midfielder, she's grown into each role. Every time we've asked her to do something new or add something to her resume, she's done that."
After earning her undergrad degree in journalism, Tyler is working on her MBA, but she plans to "take a pause with that and go into, hopefully, the January window (for pro soccer)."
"Playing attacking mid has been a lot of fun for me," she said, "and I'm thinking that will add a level of versatility for my professional profile, that I'm able to play winger or forward or attacking mid."
Tyler will attend the NWSL Combine next month in Florida "and then I'm hoping to either sign here (in the U.S.) or possibly go overseas. I really just want to keep playing, because I'll still only be 21 in the January window. I feel like I could play for at least a few more years. I just want to see where my prime is."
With a goal of rebuilding the Baylor program, Tyler Isgrig definitely leaves a legacy behind, leading a 13-4-4 team that is now three wins away from the program's first appearance in the College Cup.
"I hope people will recognize that I had an influence in the program," she said, "how I've always been a consistent, strong leader. That's one thing that I really take a lot of pride in is being consistent. Whether that's in my attitude or in my play or my effort, I always want to be consistent in those things. Sure, I can ball, but I'm consistent, too. And I hope I've become a better person off the field. That's really important to me as well."
Players Mentioned
MF
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