Since he first walked in the door at Ryle High School, Jacob Savage has been a standout on the football field.
By the time his junior year hit, college coaches started taking notice. The Raiders junior made his college commitment choice on Friday in the high school library, deciding to continue his academic and football career at Indiana University.
“It was a no doubter for me go to Indiana,” Savage said. “First time I got there, I just fell in love with Bloomington as a whole, the entire coaching staff, Coach Cignetti, Coach Haynes, they have winning mentalities and they care about their players.”
Savage, listed at 6-foot-1, 225 pounds, had Purdue, Indiana, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Northwestern, Michigan State and Minnesota as his finalists after fielding more than 15 Division I offers.
Savage will be a Mr. Football candidate for the 2025 season. He’s rated as a three-star and was recruited as a linebacker. He’s the No. 6 player in Kentucky according to 247 Sports and the No. 53 linebacker in the nation for the 2026 class.
“I think he’s the best player in the state of Kentucky, by far,” Raiders coach Mike Engler said.
The words state title were uttered on more than one occasion Friday in front of nearly 100 of Savage’s family members, teammates, coaches, mentors and classmates.
Ryle went 12-3 and drove all the way to the Class 6A state championship game in 2024. Savage was a big key in that, rushing for 1,085 yards and 22 touchdowns. He also pulled in 29 receptions for 313 yards and four touchdowns. The two-way player recorded 141 tackles, 9.5 tackles or loss, three sacks and an interception for the Class 6A runner-up Raiders.
“They’re (Indiana) getting a kid that works his butt off in the weight room, that works his butt off on the football field, that studies film and that he’s a leader,” Engler said. “He wants the guys around him to do just as well as he does. And they’re getting a student of the game. He’s a 4.0 student that just loves to play the game.”
For his career, Savage has 397 tackles, 24 tackles for loss, six sacks, four interceptions, a fumble recovery and a fumble forced defensively. Offensively, he’s rushed for 1,613 yards, 30 rushing touchdowns, hauled in 51 receptions for 545 yards and six receiving touchdowns. He’s tallied 218 points in his three years in Union and led the team in tackles every season.
Ryle will carry big expectations with them into the fall, returning nine starters on offense and seven on defense.
“We obviously made it to state last year, didn’t get it done, but you know, it left a bad taste in every one of our mouths,” Savage said. “We’re ready to get ready for the season and go 15-0.”
It’s the second consecutive season Ryle has sent a football player to a Power 5 University, Dillon Smith signing with the University of Louisville and has already enrolled and been on campus.
Savage is one of three prep football players in Northern Kentucky in the 2026 class to commit to a Division I school so far. Highlands’ Max Merz is committed to Louisville, Cooper’s Cam O’Hara committed to Western Kentucky.
Savage plans to sign in December and enroll in Bloomington in January to join the team early for spring practice. He wants to major in business, another driving factor for his decision.
Until then, get ready for a lot of “Oh Yeah’s” over the PA system in the fall in Union. The phrase coming after a big play from the Raiders standout and mimicking former wrestler Randy “Macho Man” Savage.
