The Reunion of Coach and Player
Feb 20, 2024 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Matthew Middleton saw Dante Cephas play for the first time in high school. Middleton, then the Kent State wide receivers coach, had spoken to the standout wide receiver several times on the phone and each time left the conversation impressed. Now it was time for Cephas to show out. And the all-state honoree from Penn Hills (Pa.) High School did precisely that over and over again on the football field. The 6-foot-1, 189-pound native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, caught balls on slants. He caught balls on deep routes. He high-pointed balls in traffic.
"He was ultra-competitive and gritty," Middleton says. "He was a really good football player on a really good football team."
Middleton offered Cephas a scholarship to attend Kent State. Cephas totaled 948 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns in his prep career, including a 26-catch, 585-yard campaign as a senior while helping Penn Hills to a perfect 16-0 record and a state championship. That included 144 yards and two touchdowns in the state title game.
Middleton and Cephas appeared to be a perfect match as coach and pupil, as Cephas enjoyed four years with Middleton at Kent State, where the wide receiver flourished into a First Team All-Mid-America Conference selection as a junior in 2022. Cephas led the MAC and ranked 29th nationally in averaging 82.7 receiving yards per game, including a school-record 13-catch, 246-yard outburst in an overtime victory against Ohio. Cephas finished the season second on the team with 48 catches for 744 yards and three touchdowns. As a redshirt sophomore, he had 82 catches for 1,240 yards and nine touchdowns, ranking 16th nationally in receiving yards.
"Coach Middleton is a great guy," Cephas says. "He's more an off-the-field coach. He wants you to be where you are. He doesn't want you focused on anything else but football. He wants to be there in any way and help. He talks to you off the field."
And so, it doesn't necessarily come as a surprise that when Cephas entered the transfer portal after playing the 2023 season at Penn State, Middleton phoned his former pupil again.
This time, Middleton was entering his second season as wide receivers coach at Kansas State.
"I just told Dante that he could come in and do some special things and finish his career off the right way," Middleton says. "Obviously, he has to earn it, he knows that, and nothing has ever been given to him on the football field, but I told him he'd have a great opportunity to come in and compete and leave his mark on his career. It was, 'Hey, you've got one more year. I'm here at Kansas State. You'll have an opportunity to leave your college football legacy the way that you want to.'"
And now Cephas, who has been on the K-State campus nearly one month, prepares to make an impact for the Wildcats.
"I just stay focused," he says. "I just keep my head down and keep working. I'm going to keep working until I get to where I need to be."
Today, Cephas is in the midst of winter conditioning with the Wildcats. He has gelled with his fellow wide receivers that form a position group that brings back three of its top four pass-catchers in Jayce Brown (27 rec., 437 yds., 3 TDs), Keagan Johnson (24 rec., 227 yds., 2 TDs) and Jadon Jackson (19 rec., 252 yds., 2 TDs). There should be ample opportunity for Cephas to earn playing time, if not a starting spot, on an offense guided by electric sophomore quarterback Avery Johnson and engineered by first-year offensive coordinator Conor Riley and co-offensive coordinator Matt Wells.
"I definitely see myself fitting into this offense anywhere they need me and also on special teams," Cephas says. "I think I can help Avery get to where he needs to be and help everybody on the team."
According to 247Sports, Cephas chose to enroll at Penn State in 2023 after overtures by Georgia, Miami, Notre Dame and Oklahoma, and the ninth-rated Division I transfer wide receiver was timed at 22 mph during a game. However, Cephas had an up-and-down campaign in the Big Ten with just 22 receptions for 246 yards and two touchdowns in 12 games with the Nittany Lions.
Cephas, who prides himself on being a team-first player, has hit refresh with the Wildcats, and certainly aspires to see the field in the fall.
"I just came here because of the potential of this team, not because of playing time," he says. "I'm here to play. I saw a lot of potential in this offense and in the team as a whole. Me and Coach Middleton had a great relationship beforehand. I just trust him and trusted the process. I'm here."
What does Cephas bring to the table?
"Each year, it's the growth of him," Middleton says. "Every year I've gotten to see him take to coaching and then take it beyond any expectation. He just worked his butt off. I might say, 'Dante, you need to work on breaking tackles — done. Dante, you need to work on your top-end speed — done. Dante, you need to work on working in the slot — done.' He worked to become a better football player each and every year.
"He brings the ability to make contested catches, to become a deep threat, to win contested one-on-one matchups and to break tackles. He can be as good as he wants to be as he continues to work on those things."
The work continues and the final chapter of Cephas' college career, which will officially get underway when K-State opens the season against UT Martin on August 31 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, has just begun.
Cephas has come a long way since the days of dominating at Penn Hills High School. He has come a long way since Middletown first saw him play several years ago. The coach and player are reunited, and all appears calm before Cephas plans to help the Wildcats make some noise in the Big 12 Conference.
"I'm just staying in the playbook, and I keep studying," Cephas says. "I'm taking no days off. The more days you take off, the more you get behind. I'm keeping up with the work."
In some ways, the work, and the journey, have just begun.
Matthew Middleton saw Dante Cephas play for the first time in high school. Middleton, then the Kent State wide receivers coach, had spoken to the standout wide receiver several times on the phone and each time left the conversation impressed. Now it was time for Cephas to show out. And the all-state honoree from Penn Hills (Pa.) High School did precisely that over and over again on the football field. The 6-foot-1, 189-pound native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, caught balls on slants. He caught balls on deep routes. He high-pointed balls in traffic.
"He was ultra-competitive and gritty," Middleton says. "He was a really good football player on a really good football team."
Middleton offered Cephas a scholarship to attend Kent State. Cephas totaled 948 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns in his prep career, including a 26-catch, 585-yard campaign as a senior while helping Penn Hills to a perfect 16-0 record and a state championship. That included 144 yards and two touchdowns in the state title game.
Middleton and Cephas appeared to be a perfect match as coach and pupil, as Cephas enjoyed four years with Middleton at Kent State, where the wide receiver flourished into a First Team All-Mid-America Conference selection as a junior in 2022. Cephas led the MAC and ranked 29th nationally in averaging 82.7 receiving yards per game, including a school-record 13-catch, 246-yard outburst in an overtime victory against Ohio. Cephas finished the season second on the team with 48 catches for 744 yards and three touchdowns. As a redshirt sophomore, he had 82 catches for 1,240 yards and nine touchdowns, ranking 16th nationally in receiving yards.
"Coach Middleton is a great guy," Cephas says. "He's more an off-the-field coach. He wants you to be where you are. He doesn't want you focused on anything else but football. He wants to be there in any way and help. He talks to you off the field."
And so, it doesn't necessarily come as a surprise that when Cephas entered the transfer portal after playing the 2023 season at Penn State, Middleton phoned his former pupil again.
This time, Middleton was entering his second season as wide receivers coach at Kansas State.
"I just told Dante that he could come in and do some special things and finish his career off the right way," Middleton says. "Obviously, he has to earn it, he knows that, and nothing has ever been given to him on the football field, but I told him he'd have a great opportunity to come in and compete and leave his mark on his career. It was, 'Hey, you've got one more year. I'm here at Kansas State. You'll have an opportunity to leave your college football legacy the way that you want to.'"
And now Cephas, who has been on the K-State campus nearly one month, prepares to make an impact for the Wildcats.
"I just stay focused," he says. "I just keep my head down and keep working. I'm going to keep working until I get to where I need to be."
Today, Cephas is in the midst of winter conditioning with the Wildcats. He has gelled with his fellow wide receivers that form a position group that brings back three of its top four pass-catchers in Jayce Brown (27 rec., 437 yds., 3 TDs), Keagan Johnson (24 rec., 227 yds., 2 TDs) and Jadon Jackson (19 rec., 252 yds., 2 TDs). There should be ample opportunity for Cephas to earn playing time, if not a starting spot, on an offense guided by electric sophomore quarterback Avery Johnson and engineered by first-year offensive coordinator Conor Riley and co-offensive coordinator Matt Wells.
"I definitely see myself fitting into this offense anywhere they need me and also on special teams," Cephas says. "I think I can help Avery get to where he needs to be and help everybody on the team."
According to 247Sports, Cephas chose to enroll at Penn State in 2023 after overtures by Georgia, Miami, Notre Dame and Oklahoma, and the ninth-rated Division I transfer wide receiver was timed at 22 mph during a game. However, Cephas had an up-and-down campaign in the Big Ten with just 22 receptions for 246 yards and two touchdowns in 12 games with the Nittany Lions.
Cephas, who prides himself on being a team-first player, has hit refresh with the Wildcats, and certainly aspires to see the field in the fall.
"I just came here because of the potential of this team, not because of playing time," he says. "I'm here to play. I saw a lot of potential in this offense and in the team as a whole. Me and Coach Middleton had a great relationship beforehand. I just trust him and trusted the process. I'm here."
What does Cephas bring to the table?
"Each year, it's the growth of him," Middleton says. "Every year I've gotten to see him take to coaching and then take it beyond any expectation. He just worked his butt off. I might say, 'Dante, you need to work on breaking tackles — done. Dante, you need to work on your top-end speed — done. Dante, you need to work on working in the slot — done.' He worked to become a better football player each and every year.
"He brings the ability to make contested catches, to become a deep threat, to win contested one-on-one matchups and to break tackles. He can be as good as he wants to be as he continues to work on those things."
The work continues and the final chapter of Cephas' college career, which will officially get underway when K-State opens the season against UT Martin on August 31 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, has just begun.
Cephas has come a long way since the days of dominating at Penn Hills High School. He has come a long way since Middletown first saw him play several years ago. The coach and player are reunited, and all appears calm before Cephas plans to help the Wildcats make some noise in the Big 12 Conference.
"I'm just staying in the playbook, and I keep studying," Cephas says. "I'm taking no days off. The more days you take off, the more you get behind. I'm keeping up with the work."
In some ways, the work, and the journey, have just begun.
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