Will Lyles has come clean -- sort of.
In a far reaching interview with Yahoo! sports investigative reporters Charles Robinson and Dan Wetzel, Lyles paint a self-portrait of a man just trying to help some kids and who was taken advantage of by Chip Kelly and Oregon.
Lyles says that Oregon did not pay him for his work as a talent scout, but rather as a recruiting facilitator, someone who helped influence recruits and "fixed" problems dealing with letters-of-intent and academic problems.
Lyles says he was used by Kelly and Oregon.
"I look back at it now and they paid for what they saw as my access and influence with recruits. The service I provided went beyond what a scouting service should … I made a mistake and I’m big enough of a man to admit I was wrong."
Lyles throws Kelly under the runaway bus by stating that after he became an adviser to Temple RB Lache Seastrunk that the Oregon Head Coach told Lyles to find out what the top dollar for recruiting services was and to bill Oregon accordingly. Lyles also said that the Oregon staff played a role in helping him petition to get Seastrunk's grandmother to sign the letter-of-intent, since Seastrunk's mother was not in favor of her son playing for Oregon.
Will Lyles claims his biggest mistake was trusting Chip Kelly & Oregon.
Lyles admitted that 11 months passed before Oregon ever asked for a written recruiting profile and that Kelly was "frantic" for anything, since Oregon knew that Yahoo! sports was about to write about their relationship.
As for the tweets about Texas getting unwanted attention.
Lyles also says that he arranged for Seastrunk to take a study course at Sylvan Learning Center in 2009 in order to help him with schoolwork and standardized testing. Lyles also stated that Jeff Wood, father of UT Quarterback Connor Wood, paid the $4,000 fee. Lyles also adds that he asked Wood to help "out of the goodness of his heart," and that neither Oregon nor Texas knew of the arrangement.
Lyles said he talked at length to the NCAA in April. He claims that he never thought he was acting improperly, and again blames Oregon for ruining his business and his reputation.
"I felt like my throat was cut and I was left to bleed to death. I felt that there would be some sense of loyalty to me, because I felt I provided a great [recruiting] service....In retrospect, it might have never been about the service."