A Long, Winding Journey
Mar 26, 2024 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
The young man stood in a purple hoodie that shined in the indoor light, slightly swaying side-to-side as he politely spoke about his path to Kansas State football and what's still to come. He wore a groomed moustache and fuzz covered a brick jawline that had no doubt felt the impact of a football helmet a time or two as he roamed the field, first as a wide receiver, and now as a sixth-year senior cornerback on a defense with a penchant for keeping opponents out of the end zone.
Yeah, it was spring, and Keenan Garber continued to practice, and he could count his career starts on one hand, but the 6-foot, 184-pounder had this final opportunity within his grasp, the chance to step up, the chance to shine, the chance to put to bed doubting skeptics, and the chance to author a riveting final chapter to a tale that epitomizes the love for the gridiron in the Little Apple.
There's no playbook for matters of the heart for a team and teammates, but Garber felt the pull, like many of those before him, that coming back for a sixth and final year was ideal, that life just wouldn't be the same without eschewing the "what ifs" that can dog a guy while sitting at home watching his former teammates battle in a bowl game.
He wanted to remain one of the guys, and help the Wildcats, who came off a 28-19 victory over NC State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, capture a second Big 12 Conference Championship in three years, while this time assuming a more prominent role, which he deserved, and which he had waited for as former roommate Ekow Boye-Doe starred on the stage before passing him the baton.
And this, too, the love of the fans, which filled Bill Snyder Family Stadium to the brim, a cascade of cheers lifting above the Flint Hills, a young boy hoping one day to be like Garber, and chase his dreams, his passion, and to never be deterred, and to be open to change, like Garber was when coaches suggested that he might take his skills to the defensive side of the ball 15 months ago.
There he was, Garber, who arrived as one of the top wide receivers and defensive backs in northeast Kansas, adjusting as he moved from wide receiver to cornerback and then earned his opportunity the week of the 2022 Big 12 Championship Game. There he was, Garber studying film and pictures with Boye-Doe in the house they shared in Manhattan. Boye-Doe, a longtime starting cornerback, went onto sign with the Kansas City Chiefs, yet he felt compelled to impart his knowledge upon one of his best friends, raw at his new position, yet eager to play and contribute no matter what it took.
Garber was pressed into action in the league title game due to Boye-Doe's injury. He played 21 defensive snaps.
"It's been a long journey for me," Garber says. "Six years. Lots of adversity. Wide receiver and making that transition. That was big for me. Had a couple different coaches as well. It's been a long journey. Lots of steps I had to take to get to where I'm at today."
It was Thursday, December 1, 2022 — a couple of days prior to the 2022 Big 12 Championship Game — when assistant head coach and cornerbacks coach Van Malone told Garber: "Be ready." Garber, who had been practicing on the scout team squad as a cornerback, had no idea that things could happen so fast.
"You throw them into the fire for some crazy, unknown reason, and they take off from there," Malone says. "That's why it's important as a coach that you never give up on players because you never know when the light might come on."
And so came the quick cram sessions with Boye-Doe as hours ticked off the clock before the team trekked to Arlington, Texas, for the league title game against No. 3 TCU. Garber knew he had to study the playbook more than ever. It paid off.
"I was ready for the moment and wanted to show what I could do," Garber says. "I knew I had to be on point and make the most of my opportunity."
But if there was a play that perhaps best-defined Garber's strides at the cornerback position, it arrived with 2 minutes, 55 seconds remaining in the third quarter of a 59-25 victory over Baylor last season, when Garber stepped in front of a receiver and picked off a Blake Shapen pass and returned the ball 45 yards for a touchdown. Playing a Cover 2 defense as instructed by defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman, Garber disguised his coverage and jumped the route and showed off his speed — he runs 22 miles per hour and is one of the fastest players on the team — and basked in the cheers as he reached paydirt following his first-career interception.
On special teams, he returned a blocked extra point 91 yards at Kansas, the longest defensive extra point via a blocked kick in school history. Oh, Garber also had a career-high five tackles at Texas Tech, and a career-high two passes defended against both TCU and Baylor. He also had three tackles at Missouri and two apiece against SEMO, Oklahoma State, TCU, Houston and Baylor.
Now, in the midst of spring practice, Malone yearns to see more.
"One-hundred percent," Malone says. "He's a guy I've seen play, and I know what he can do, and I know how he'll respond under fire, but I still want to give him as much as I can in terms of different formations, opportunities to communicate, because that just helps him grow."
The making of Garber began when he was six. He wanted to play football in first grade and had to wait until second grade. He played for the Lawrence Red Raiders. He was the quarterback — "a big deal for me at the time," he says — where he first demonstrated his playmaking ability and instincts as a leader.
"I had a lot of weight on my shoulders," he says. "I learned how to take wins and losses at an early age."
Garber helped Free State High School to a 10-1 record and a league championship each season. He was regarded as the 23rd-best athlete in the nation in the Class of 2019 by ESPN. K-State was the first school to contact him, and as Garber puts it, "The rest is history."
And now Garber is a sixth-year senior who figures to be a key cog for a defensive secondary that returns junior cornerback Jacob Parrish, a 2003 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection, while some new faces could provide depth. That's where 23-year-old Garber could spring into action in a slightly different capacity: He's emerged as a leader. He's one of many players on the team's leadership council.
"Now that I'm in this position as an older guy, I can impact the younger guys," he says. "It was done for me, so I knew I had to step up in that aspect. Ultimately, it'll help the team be better. One thing I've focused on this offseason is becoming more of a leader.
"I'm more of a lead-by-example guy, but if I see something with the guys around me, I coach them up, especially the younger cornerbacks."
There's Justice James, Kanijal Thomas, Donovan McIntosh and Darell Jones. James, a senior, played in 11 games as a backup. Thomas, a sophomore, played in seven games as a true freshman, mostly on special teams. McIntosh redshirted last season. Jones, a junior, saw no action last season. They'll no doubt come along. They'll earn their time to contribute, much like Garber 15 months ago, when he burst onto the scene in the defensive backfield. He's made steady progress ever since.
He says that he's comfortable playing at the line of scrimmage and working on releases and playing press-man and off-man and zone coverage. He studies his footwork. He keys in on the double move and trick plays.
"No touchdowns on me," he says. "That's one thing I focus on."
This offseason, he's focused on gaining weight as well. He dropped to 175 pounds during the season. So, he's focused on eating more, which includes a steady diet of Chipotle burritos, to bring his weight back up to 184.
Once on the field for the August 31 season opener against UT Martin, it'll really be time to eat.
"I just have so much love for my teammates and this coaching staff and program," he says. "We have more on the plate. I'm excited to get out there and give it another year."
The young man stood in a purple hoodie that shined in the indoor light, slightly swaying side-to-side as he politely spoke about his path to Kansas State football and what's still to come. He wore a groomed moustache and fuzz covered a brick jawline that had no doubt felt the impact of a football helmet a time or two as he roamed the field, first as a wide receiver, and now as a sixth-year senior cornerback on a defense with a penchant for keeping opponents out of the end zone.
Yeah, it was spring, and Keenan Garber continued to practice, and he could count his career starts on one hand, but the 6-foot, 184-pounder had this final opportunity within his grasp, the chance to step up, the chance to shine, the chance to put to bed doubting skeptics, and the chance to author a riveting final chapter to a tale that epitomizes the love for the gridiron in the Little Apple.
There's no playbook for matters of the heart for a team and teammates, but Garber felt the pull, like many of those before him, that coming back for a sixth and final year was ideal, that life just wouldn't be the same without eschewing the "what ifs" that can dog a guy while sitting at home watching his former teammates battle in a bowl game.
He wanted to remain one of the guys, and help the Wildcats, who came off a 28-19 victory over NC State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, capture a second Big 12 Conference Championship in three years, while this time assuming a more prominent role, which he deserved, and which he had waited for as former roommate Ekow Boye-Doe starred on the stage before passing him the baton.
And this, too, the love of the fans, which filled Bill Snyder Family Stadium to the brim, a cascade of cheers lifting above the Flint Hills, a young boy hoping one day to be like Garber, and chase his dreams, his passion, and to never be deterred, and to be open to change, like Garber was when coaches suggested that he might take his skills to the defensive side of the ball 15 months ago.
There he was, Garber, who arrived as one of the top wide receivers and defensive backs in northeast Kansas, adjusting as he moved from wide receiver to cornerback and then earned his opportunity the week of the 2022 Big 12 Championship Game. There he was, Garber studying film and pictures with Boye-Doe in the house they shared in Manhattan. Boye-Doe, a longtime starting cornerback, went onto sign with the Kansas City Chiefs, yet he felt compelled to impart his knowledge upon one of his best friends, raw at his new position, yet eager to play and contribute no matter what it took.
Garber was pressed into action in the league title game due to Boye-Doe's injury. He played 21 defensive snaps.
"It's been a long journey for me," Garber says. "Six years. Lots of adversity. Wide receiver and making that transition. That was big for me. Had a couple different coaches as well. It's been a long journey. Lots of steps I had to take to get to where I'm at today."
It was Thursday, December 1, 2022 — a couple of days prior to the 2022 Big 12 Championship Game — when assistant head coach and cornerbacks coach Van Malone told Garber: "Be ready." Garber, who had been practicing on the scout team squad as a cornerback, had no idea that things could happen so fast.
"You throw them into the fire for some crazy, unknown reason, and they take off from there," Malone says. "That's why it's important as a coach that you never give up on players because you never know when the light might come on."
And so came the quick cram sessions with Boye-Doe as hours ticked off the clock before the team trekked to Arlington, Texas, for the league title game against No. 3 TCU. Garber knew he had to study the playbook more than ever. It paid off.
"I was ready for the moment and wanted to show what I could do," Garber says. "I knew I had to be on point and make the most of my opportunity."
But if there was a play that perhaps best-defined Garber's strides at the cornerback position, it arrived with 2 minutes, 55 seconds remaining in the third quarter of a 59-25 victory over Baylor last season, when Garber stepped in front of a receiver and picked off a Blake Shapen pass and returned the ball 45 yards for a touchdown. Playing a Cover 2 defense as instructed by defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman, Garber disguised his coverage and jumped the route and showed off his speed — he runs 22 miles per hour and is one of the fastest players on the team — and basked in the cheers as he reached paydirt following his first-career interception.
On special teams, he returned a blocked extra point 91 yards at Kansas, the longest defensive extra point via a blocked kick in school history. Oh, Garber also had a career-high five tackles at Texas Tech, and a career-high two passes defended against both TCU and Baylor. He also had three tackles at Missouri and two apiece against SEMO, Oklahoma State, TCU, Houston and Baylor.
Now, in the midst of spring practice, Malone yearns to see more.
"One-hundred percent," Malone says. "He's a guy I've seen play, and I know what he can do, and I know how he'll respond under fire, but I still want to give him as much as I can in terms of different formations, opportunities to communicate, because that just helps him grow."
The making of Garber began when he was six. He wanted to play football in first grade and had to wait until second grade. He played for the Lawrence Red Raiders. He was the quarterback — "a big deal for me at the time," he says — where he first demonstrated his playmaking ability and instincts as a leader.
"I had a lot of weight on my shoulders," he says. "I learned how to take wins and losses at an early age."
Garber helped Free State High School to a 10-1 record and a league championship each season. He was regarded as the 23rd-best athlete in the nation in the Class of 2019 by ESPN. K-State was the first school to contact him, and as Garber puts it, "The rest is history."
And now Garber is a sixth-year senior who figures to be a key cog for a defensive secondary that returns junior cornerback Jacob Parrish, a 2003 All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection, while some new faces could provide depth. That's where 23-year-old Garber could spring into action in a slightly different capacity: He's emerged as a leader. He's one of many players on the team's leadership council.
"Now that I'm in this position as an older guy, I can impact the younger guys," he says. "It was done for me, so I knew I had to step up in that aspect. Ultimately, it'll help the team be better. One thing I've focused on this offseason is becoming more of a leader.
"I'm more of a lead-by-example guy, but if I see something with the guys around me, I coach them up, especially the younger cornerbacks."
There's Justice James, Kanijal Thomas, Donovan McIntosh and Darell Jones. James, a senior, played in 11 games as a backup. Thomas, a sophomore, played in seven games as a true freshman, mostly on special teams. McIntosh redshirted last season. Jones, a junior, saw no action last season. They'll no doubt come along. They'll earn their time to contribute, much like Garber 15 months ago, when he burst onto the scene in the defensive backfield. He's made steady progress ever since.
He says that he's comfortable playing at the line of scrimmage and working on releases and playing press-man and off-man and zone coverage. He studies his footwork. He keys in on the double move and trick plays.
"No touchdowns on me," he says. "That's one thing I focus on."
This offseason, he's focused on gaining weight as well. He dropped to 175 pounds during the season. So, he's focused on eating more, which includes a steady diet of Chipotle burritos, to bring his weight back up to 184.
Once on the field for the August 31 season opener against UT Martin, it'll really be time to eat.
"I just have so much love for my teammates and this coaching staff and program," he says. "We have more on the plate. I'm excited to get out there and give it another year."
Players Mentioned
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