New K-State Q&A on Avery Johnson, football projections and Jerome Tang’s new job
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Avery Johnson's return for a fifth season would depend on his 2026 season performance.
- K-State offensive line rotated heavily in spring practice, preventing firm starters.
- Jerome Tang is back at Baylor and as of Friday morning no suit was filed in Riley County.
It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
Thank you, as always, for providing so many great questions about the Wildcats. Let’s get right to them.
Do you think Avery Johnson will spend five seasons at Kansas State if the NCAA goes ahead and approves the new 5-for-5 eligibility rule that has been proposed? -Jeff M. via e-mail.
Maybe.
That answer likely depends on how his fourth season with the Wildcats goes in the fall.
If he re-unites with Collin Klein and he plays well enough to become a surefire draft pick in the early rounds, then Avery Johnson will probably look to turn pro and take his talents to the NFL. But a big senior season at K-State could also unlock riches for him in Year 5 as a college player.
Anymore, a talented quarterback is likely to make more money in his final year of college football than his first year of NFL football.
Johnson recently said that it was important to him to spend a full four years at K-State, for several reasons.
“I really wanted to be able to leave a legacy here and do things,” he said, “just to show the type of person I am. It’s going to mean a lot to be able to get my degree from K-State in the fall, graduate from here and be a four-year guy here. With how the landscape of college football is nowadays, I think that says a lot.”
I will say this: Johnson will almost certainly be the best option at QB for K-State in 2026 and 2027. So the Wildcats will almost certainly push for him to return.
My guess is that Johnson would be open to a fifth season at K-State. But the transfer portal and the NFL will also be options, if the NCAA changes its eligibility rules.
Do you have a projected starting offensive line? I am excited about the offensive weapons, then I look at the roster and feel panicked about the line. Hopefully, the new coach is another Conor Riley. -@kstatefanfirst via X.
It’s too early to predict five starters on the offensive line, because the Wildcats rotated like crazy at that position during spring practice.
Offensive line coach Mike Schmidt experimented with a number of different lineup combinations. Some players were also dinged up last month and unable to be on the field for every rep.
The five guys they used one day rarely matched the five guys they used the next day. But that’s not going to prevent me from answering your question with an educated guess.
Let’s go with John Pastore at left tackle, Tanner Morley at left guard, Delvin Morris at center, Keiton Jones at right guard and Tyler Johnson at right tackle.
I also envision George Fitzpatrick, Ryan Howard, Gus Hawkins and Oliver Miller seeing plenty of playing time. So the Wildcats will have options.
I’m not sure how good or bad the offensive line will be next season. But they will be blocking for a mobile quarterback in Avery Johnson and some talented running backs in Joe Jackson, Jay Harris and Rodney Fields. That should make their job easier.
What will be the first new uniform combo of the Collin Klein era? -@Gokats153 via X.
All purple.
The home jerseys will remain the same, but the pants and the helmets will be different. Purple everywhere, except for maybe the shoes. Those can be white to match the numbers and letters on the jerseys. Let’s make the Powercat on the helmet white, also.
Call it the K-State color rush uniform.
Has Taylor Poitier signed with a NFL team yet? -Joe S. via e-mail.
I don’t think so.
The former Kansas State offensive lineman wasn’t selected in the 2026 NFL Draft. Nor was he signed as an undrafted free agent. It’s possible that one NFL team invited him to participate at its rookie mini-camp, but if that happened it hasn’t been announced by Poitier, his agents or the NFL team.
If he wants to continue his football career, he may need to look elsewhere. But a handful of other K-State football players have found NFL homes.
The Carolina Panthers selected Sam Hecht. The New York Jets picked VJ Payne.
Uso Seumalo signed as an undrafted free agent with the Seattle Seahawks. Jerand Bradley signed a similar deal with the Los Angeles Chargers.
And Gunner Maldonado was invited to a pair of rookie mini-camps.
The Big 12 struck a 5-year deal with RedBird and Weatherford Capital, finalizing a three-prong package: to deliver at least $12.5 million to the league office to drive commercial development and offer schools an opt-in capital credit line of $30 million. Is KSU taking the cash? -@bfullingt via X.
This question is, unfortunately, above my pay grade.
I’m not sure what to think about the Big 12 signing up for private equity. On the surface, I don’t like it. Big 12 athletic departments raise $12.5 million all the time for various reasons. Why is the league office taking out a glorified loan for that amount?
An influx of cash is great in the short term. Paying it back with interest in the long term is sub-optimal.
But there are some experts out there who think it’s a good idea. There are surely some positives that I’m not seeing.
I’m a sportswriter. Not an accountant.
My guess is K-State doesn’t take the money. But I haven’t had the chance to speak with Gene Taylor or other decision-makers to find out for sure.
Is the gif (Mariah Carey bouncing a ceremonial first pitch to home plate) you used for questions this week a live look at K-State baseballs pitchers? -@speerman42 via X.
No, but the K-State baseball team is trending in the wrong direction.
A month ago, it looked like the Bat Cats were going to make the NCAA Tournament. Now, that is very much in question. K-State has lost four consecutive games to fall to 26-19 on the season and 9-12 in the Big 12.
The folks at DI Baseball and Baseball America both have K-State outside of their current NCAA Regional projections.
K-State needs to finish the season strong if it hopes to make the postseason.
Making matters worse, all of its recent losses have come against rival teams. The Jayhawks swept a three-game series against the Bat Cats last weekend in Manhattan. Then Nebraska (old rival) beat them in a weekday game.
It’s been a dreadful rivalry season for K-State in most sports.
Iowa State won every meaningful Farmageddon game, including the football season-opener in Ireland. Kansas swept the Sunflower Showdown in baseball, men’s basketball and women’s basketball.
The Wildcats beating the Jayhawks 42-17 in football makes up for a lot of those failures. But it was the lone bright spot of the rivalry year.
Jerome Tang is back at Baylor as an associate head coach. Has there been any update on his legal battle with Kansas State over his buyout? -Andrew B. via e-mail.
I reached out to a member of Tang’s legal team with a similar question this week, and the only thing his attorney said was that Tang was happy to be working with the Bears again.
That makes sense. Tang helped Baylor win a lot of games as an assistant before he made the jump to head coach and failed at K-State. He is also deeply religious. Waco, Texas may be the perfect place for him.
In any case, Tang’s attorney provided no update on the possibility of Tang bringing legal action against the K-State athletic department.
Tom Mars, the attorney who has said Tang will fight for the $18.7 million buyout he would have been owed had he been fired without cause, did not return messages seeking comment.
As of Friday morning, no lawsuit had been filed on Tang’s behalf in Riley County.
It’s possible, and perhaps likely, that both sides are discussing terms for an out-of-court settlement.