On a humid August morning in Manhattan, Kansas, the rising sun glints off the limestone façade of Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Inside, the bleachers are empty, but one figure is already moving at full speed. Avery Johnson — quarterback, hometown star, and the face of Kansas State football’s present and future — darts down the sideline, his gold-tinted visor catching the light like a flare. He isn’t performing for a crowd. He never does. Johnson’s work is in the details: the footwork drill repeated 40 times, the deep-ball spiral perfected until it falls from the sky like it’s been dropped in by hand. This is the quarterback Kansas State has been waiting for.⸻
The Kid From Wichita
Johnson’s journey to this moment began two hours down the road in Wichita, where he was a high school sensation long before college scouts came calling. He had the quick-twitch athleticism to play receiver, the frame to play safety, but it was his quarterback instincts — the way he read coverages, the way he made impossible plays look routine that set him apart.
He could have gone anywhere. The SEC came knocking, so did Oregon and Florida State. But Johnson never wavered. “Kansas State believed in me first,” he told reporters on Signing Day. “And I believe in Kansas State.”
For a program that has built its identity on loyalty and toughness, the decision felt like fate. The Wildcats didn’t just sign a quarterback. They signed their future.
Dual-Threat Dynamo
At 6’2” and 195 pounds, Johnson looks lean compared to some of his quarterback contemporaries, but his game is anything but small. His arm strength jumps off the tape — 60-yard bombs down the seam, flicked with ease. Just as deadly, though, are his legs: Johnson posted over 700 rushing yards in his first full season under center, slicing through defenses with sprinter’s speed.
Defensive coordinators describe him as “a chess match in cleats.” If you blitz, he’ll find the quick slant. If you drop into coverage, he’ll take off for 20 yards before your linebackers can react. Kansas State’s offensive staff loves to call him their “eraser” — when a play breaks
down, Johnson erases mistakes with raw talent. But Johnson isn’t just a highlight-reel athlete. His poise in pressure moments has already entered Wildcat lore. Down six against Oklahoma, 2:14 on the clock, Johnson engineered an 11-play drive capped with a strike to the back pylon. Against Texas Tech, on third-and-13, he scrambled through three defenders and turned a busted play into the game’s defining moment.
Leading the Locker Room
For all his physical gifts, Johnson’s greatest strength might be how he’s embraced leadership. Teammates talk about him as if he’s already a seasoned pro. “Avery’s the guy who never lets the energy dip,” senior tackle Cooper Beebe once said. “If you’re dragging, he’s the first one to slap your helmet and get you back up.”
That presence extends beyond the field. Johnson has leaned into his role as the program’s face during the NIL era, representing Kansas State with community initiatives, youth camps, and partnerships with local businesses instead of flashy national deals. “I want kids in Kansas to see they can dream big without leaving home,” Johnson explains.
It’s not lip service. This summer, he spent two days at a youth football camp in Salina, throwing passes and running drills with elementary schoolers until nearly dusk. When asked why he stayed that long, Johnson just shrugged. “That was me once.”
The Big 12 Stage
Kansas State has had great quarterbacks before. Michael Bishop electrified fans in the late ‘90s. Collin Klein carried the Wildcats to a Fiesta Bowl. But Johnson’s rise feels different — because the game itself has changed.
The 12-team College Football Playoff looms. The Big 12 is wide open in its new post-Texas, post-Oklahoma era. And in this shifting landscape, Johnson represents both stability and star power. He’s the kind of player who can keep Kansas State not just competitive, but nationally relevant.
NFL scouts are already circling, noting his mechanics, his speed, his calm under pressure. “He has all the tools,” one AFC scout said this summer. “You don’t see many kids who can run like that and throw like that. If he keeps developing, he’ll be a first-rounder.”
A Season of Possibility
The stage is set in 2025. Kansas State opens tomorrow in Ireland against Iowa State; it’s the game of the week for College Football, but it could be the game of Avery Johnson’s career. A Win tomorrow could set K States season up for major success.
When Johnson takes the field tomorrow with the roar of the crowd, it won’t just be for a quarterback. It’ll be for the kid from Wichita who stayed home and might just carry Kansas State to history this season.