Kansas State University Athletics
Swanny the Skoolie
Nov 06, 2025 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
The idea arrived one day when Will Swanson watched a video of a man ripping all the seats out of an old van. This was when young Swanson was a tight end – one of the best tight ends in the country – while starring at La Vista South High School in Papillion, Nebraska. Swanson carried indomitable passion and elite talent on the football field, but the 6-foot-5, 248-pounder held onto that memory, that video, of the man ripping seats out of a van. The seed had been planted.
"Just reusing stuff that might be trash," Swanson says, "I thought that was pretty cool."
Eight years have passed since the old van video, and today, Swanson, who graduated from Kansas State with a degree in Construction Science and Management in May 2024 and who will earn his master's degree in December, is preparing for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
That's when he'll tackle the windows for his eventual home.
"My next step is to finish the windows," Swanson says. "I have two out of six – maybe five – done. Then I'll do the door. At that point, the whole bus will be dried in. That'll be nice."
Today, Swanson beams with a different sense of pride than when he describes a touchdown catch in a postgame news conference after a K-State football game. Touchdowns come and go. Swanson's endeavor, his dream, which became realized last May, seems destined to change his life. After watching an online auction for two weeks, Swanson pulled the trigger and became proud owner of a 2006 International School Bus with low mileage, a DT 466 diesel engine, an Allison 2500 automatic transmission, and that measured 32 feet long and 6-feet, 6-inches tall.
The plan? To convert the bus into a livable RV home.
"My inspiration?" Swanson says, smiling big. "Maybe Cousin Eddie on Christmas Vacation, his RV. I guess it was destined."
Swanson's bus cost him $5,500.
It will be much nicer than Cousin Eddie's.
As for Swanson's dream? Priceless.
"The bus was in Tulsa, Oklahoma, so I knew there probably wasn't too much rust," Swanson says. "Good engine, good transmission, good tires, and good on highways. I was like, 'If I'm going to do it, it's going to be this bus.' During the two weeks of watching the auction, I learned more about busses and putting a plan together. I knew I had to get serious an get a decent plan going."
He caught a ride to Tulsa. The grandparents of K-State volleyball player Ava LeGrand, Swanson's fiancé, dropped Swanson off in Tulsa on their way to Dallas.
"The bus's condition was pretty good," he said. "When I took off the flooring and saw the undercarriage, there was very little rust. It was maintained really well since it was a school district bus. It hadn't been neglected. It was an 8 out of 10. That's why I pulled the trigger on it. If you're not careful, it can become a money pit before you even begin to fix it."
It was a white bus with black lettering and black zebra stripes with a faded school mascot — an angry zebra. It read "Claremore Zebras" across the side of the bus. Claremore, Oklahoma — home of astronaut Stuart Roosa, Helen Walton (wife of Walmart founder, Sam Walton), professional baseball player Matt Whatley, and, as it turns out, home of K-State offensive line coach Brian Lepak, which conjures a humorous story.
"One day, I left Vanier Football Complex and Lepak was walking in," Swanson says. "I said, 'Coach, I have to show you something in the parking lot.' He was so excited. We took a photo. He remembered the bus. He rode on the bus his senior year. Anyhow, it was hilarious. A cool story."
Getting the bus from its actual resting place in Collinsville, Oklahoma, to Manhattan was a story as well. The four-hour voyage north featured a few challenges. Swanson had never driven a bus. He knew that he couldn't fit the bus on the driveway of his off-campus home, so he docked it in the West Stadium Center parking lot, about a Hail Mary pass from the Bill Snyder statue.
Friends applauded Swanson for his undertaking.
"If anybody can do it, it's Swanny," one friend said.
"Nobody was surprised, really," Swanson says.
Ava eventually gave her blessing. Swanson knew he had to make one phone call. He had to call his parents, Kevin and Amy, back home in Papillion, and deliver the great news.
"I told dad, 'I bought a school bus, and I'm going to turn it into an RV,'" Swanson said. "My parents were both like, 'What in the heck are you thinking?' I said, 'I have a plan, and know what I'm going to do. I'm going to explore the country.'"
Swanson, his adrenaline flowing after the four-hour drive from Collinsville, wasted little time in getting his bus renovation started.
"Five minutes after I parked the bus in Manhattan," he says, "I ripped out the seats."
It's proven to be a calculated, patient, fun, yet grueling process. Over the summer months, Swanson worked on the bus six hours per day. Interior demolition — ripping out the ceiling and walls and windows and emergency exits. His father, a systems engineer, still drives down from Papillion to help on weekends.
"I think dad looks forward to it every week," Swanson says. "He's telling his co-workers, and guys have been super helpful as well."
Swanson is videotaping his progress along the way and plans to edit it into an hour-long presentation. The term of a person who flips a school bus into a RV is "Skoolie" and there are countless online Skoolie groups from across the country sharing their successes and dropping suggestions. It's like an elite club with the most experienced and most creative Skoolies leading the way.
"Hours and hours on YouTube," Swanson says. "There's a guy named Chuck Cassidy, and he's helped me out so much. I use a lot of his ideas and designs, and that's a huge help. YouTube is very helpful in what I'm doing."
Swanson created a spreadsheet to guide him along the way. He drew out the perimeter of the bus on graph paper — one-inch equals one foot — to see the exact measurements of feasible living space. There was his queen bed, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room. He purchased flooring and insulation at Menards or Home Depot. He drove to Topeka to purchase sheet metal. He knocked out the windows and replaced them with eight sheets of 18-gauge galvanized steel and secured the metal with a rivet gun and 1,000 rounds. The flooring features four inches of foam board insulation and plywood. He installed fans where the emergency exits were. The goal is to install as much insulation as possible so that the bus will be nice when it is cold outside. The bus will have a water pump, a water heater, a composting toilet, a propane oven, a refrigerator and freezer.
Swanson is spicing up his livable bus as well.
"I'm putting in a 100-gallon freshwater tank underneath my bed," he says. "So, my bed will be raised above the floor."
He has five windows in all — one in the kitchen, one at the feet of his bed, and one near the dining room table, for starters. Then he'll work on the door — galvanized steel for now with the sheet metal siding. He isn't sure if he'll paint the door. The rest of the bus is white. Soon, he'll repaint it white. He kind of likes that it's white because it reflects a little bit of the heat from the sun.
Then comes electrical work.
"That'll be one of the tougher parts," Swanson says, "trying not to burn the bus down."
However, the electricity comes with a twist.
"I'm putting solar panels on the roof of the bus," he says. "This will be a self-sufficient RV bus."
Swanson sits inside the press box at Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Tuesday afternoon he says this, a sparkle in his eye, excitement in his voice, gesturing with his hands different measurements and detailing every step.
Then he sits back in his chair and looks at the football field below.
"I'm proudest of just pulling the trigger on the bus," he says. "A lot of times, I wanted to take the least risk possible, and I always tried to make the smart decision. I've chased my dreams playing football at K-State. It's kind of the same thing. I'm going to pull the trigger and commit to play football, and I'm so glad I'm here. I wanted to play college football, and it's worked out. It boosted my confidence in knowing if I wanted to try and do something I'm going to put all my work toward it and accomplish it."
The goal is to complete the bus by the end of the spring. When the snow melts, Will and Ava will load up and travel to South Dakota, Yellowstone, Montana, Washington, and drive down the California coast — and then go from there.
"I want to buy raw land, get as many acres as I can, because that would be cool, and then I could drive the bus onto the land, and have my house, and go from there," Swanson says. "I want to homestead somewhere in the Midwest, maybe Nebraska, Iowa or Missouri — we'll figure it out — and I want to farm and get animals. Me and Ava want to homestead and live that life. That's so cool.
"I wouldn't say Ava instantly jumped on board. Nobody was on board for quite a while. It was just me. Now she's really supportive. I think once we go on the trip, we're really going to enjoy it."
The idea arrived one day when Will Swanson watched a video of a man ripping all the seats out of an old van. This was when young Swanson was a tight end – one of the best tight ends in the country – while starring at La Vista South High School in Papillion, Nebraska. Swanson carried indomitable passion and elite talent on the football field, but the 6-foot-5, 248-pounder held onto that memory, that video, of the man ripping seats out of a van. The seed had been planted.
"Just reusing stuff that might be trash," Swanson says, "I thought that was pretty cool."
Eight years have passed since the old van video, and today, Swanson, who graduated from Kansas State with a degree in Construction Science and Management in May 2024 and who will earn his master's degree in December, is preparing for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
That's when he'll tackle the windows for his eventual home.
"My next step is to finish the windows," Swanson says. "I have two out of six – maybe five – done. Then I'll do the door. At that point, the whole bus will be dried in. That'll be nice."
Today, Swanson beams with a different sense of pride than when he describes a touchdown catch in a postgame news conference after a K-State football game. Touchdowns come and go. Swanson's endeavor, his dream, which became realized last May, seems destined to change his life. After watching an online auction for two weeks, Swanson pulled the trigger and became proud owner of a 2006 International School Bus with low mileage, a DT 466 diesel engine, an Allison 2500 automatic transmission, and that measured 32 feet long and 6-feet, 6-inches tall.
The plan? To convert the bus into a livable RV home.
"My inspiration?" Swanson says, smiling big. "Maybe Cousin Eddie on Christmas Vacation, his RV. I guess it was destined."
Swanson's bus cost him $5,500.
It will be much nicer than Cousin Eddie's.
As for Swanson's dream? Priceless.
"The bus was in Tulsa, Oklahoma, so I knew there probably wasn't too much rust," Swanson says. "Good engine, good transmission, good tires, and good on highways. I was like, 'If I'm going to do it, it's going to be this bus.' During the two weeks of watching the auction, I learned more about busses and putting a plan together. I knew I had to get serious an get a decent plan going."
He caught a ride to Tulsa. The grandparents of K-State volleyball player Ava LeGrand, Swanson's fiancé, dropped Swanson off in Tulsa on their way to Dallas.
"The bus's condition was pretty good," he said. "When I took off the flooring and saw the undercarriage, there was very little rust. It was maintained really well since it was a school district bus. It hadn't been neglected. It was an 8 out of 10. That's why I pulled the trigger on it. If you're not careful, it can become a money pit before you even begin to fix it."
It was a white bus with black lettering and black zebra stripes with a faded school mascot — an angry zebra. It read "Claremore Zebras" across the side of the bus. Claremore, Oklahoma — home of astronaut Stuart Roosa, Helen Walton (wife of Walmart founder, Sam Walton), professional baseball player Matt Whatley, and, as it turns out, home of K-State offensive line coach Brian Lepak, which conjures a humorous story.
"One day, I left Vanier Football Complex and Lepak was walking in," Swanson says. "I said, 'Coach, I have to show you something in the parking lot.' He was so excited. We took a photo. He remembered the bus. He rode on the bus his senior year. Anyhow, it was hilarious. A cool story."
Getting the bus from its actual resting place in Collinsville, Oklahoma, to Manhattan was a story as well. The four-hour voyage north featured a few challenges. Swanson had never driven a bus. He knew that he couldn't fit the bus on the driveway of his off-campus home, so he docked it in the West Stadium Center parking lot, about a Hail Mary pass from the Bill Snyder statue.
Friends applauded Swanson for his undertaking.
"If anybody can do it, it's Swanny," one friend said.
"Nobody was surprised, really," Swanson says.
Ava eventually gave her blessing. Swanson knew he had to make one phone call. He had to call his parents, Kevin and Amy, back home in Papillion, and deliver the great news.
"I told dad, 'I bought a school bus, and I'm going to turn it into an RV,'" Swanson said. "My parents were both like, 'What in the heck are you thinking?' I said, 'I have a plan, and know what I'm going to do. I'm going to explore the country.'"
Swanson, his adrenaline flowing after the four-hour drive from Collinsville, wasted little time in getting his bus renovation started.
"Five minutes after I parked the bus in Manhattan," he says, "I ripped out the seats."
It's proven to be a calculated, patient, fun, yet grueling process. Over the summer months, Swanson worked on the bus six hours per day. Interior demolition — ripping out the ceiling and walls and windows and emergency exits. His father, a systems engineer, still drives down from Papillion to help on weekends.
"I think dad looks forward to it every week," Swanson says. "He's telling his co-workers, and guys have been super helpful as well."
Swanson is videotaping his progress along the way and plans to edit it into an hour-long presentation. The term of a person who flips a school bus into a RV is "Skoolie" and there are countless online Skoolie groups from across the country sharing their successes and dropping suggestions. It's like an elite club with the most experienced and most creative Skoolies leading the way.
"Hours and hours on YouTube," Swanson says. "There's a guy named Chuck Cassidy, and he's helped me out so much. I use a lot of his ideas and designs, and that's a huge help. YouTube is very helpful in what I'm doing."
Swanson created a spreadsheet to guide him along the way. He drew out the perimeter of the bus on graph paper — one-inch equals one foot — to see the exact measurements of feasible living space. There was his queen bed, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room. He purchased flooring and insulation at Menards or Home Depot. He drove to Topeka to purchase sheet metal. He knocked out the windows and replaced them with eight sheets of 18-gauge galvanized steel and secured the metal with a rivet gun and 1,000 rounds. The flooring features four inches of foam board insulation and plywood. He installed fans where the emergency exits were. The goal is to install as much insulation as possible so that the bus will be nice when it is cold outside. The bus will have a water pump, a water heater, a composting toilet, a propane oven, a refrigerator and freezer.
Swanson is spicing up his livable bus as well.
"I'm putting in a 100-gallon freshwater tank underneath my bed," he says. "So, my bed will be raised above the floor."
He has five windows in all — one in the kitchen, one at the feet of his bed, and one near the dining room table, for starters. Then he'll work on the door — galvanized steel for now with the sheet metal siding. He isn't sure if he'll paint the door. The rest of the bus is white. Soon, he'll repaint it white. He kind of likes that it's white because it reflects a little bit of the heat from the sun.
Then comes electrical work.
"That'll be one of the tougher parts," Swanson says, "trying not to burn the bus down."
However, the electricity comes with a twist.
"I'm putting solar panels on the roof of the bus," he says. "This will be a self-sufficient RV bus."
Swanson sits inside the press box at Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Tuesday afternoon he says this, a sparkle in his eye, excitement in his voice, gesturing with his hands different measurements and detailing every step.
Then he sits back in his chair and looks at the football field below.
"I'm proudest of just pulling the trigger on the bus," he says. "A lot of times, I wanted to take the least risk possible, and I always tried to make the smart decision. I've chased my dreams playing football at K-State. It's kind of the same thing. I'm going to pull the trigger and commit to play football, and I'm so glad I'm here. I wanted to play college football, and it's worked out. It boosted my confidence in knowing if I wanted to try and do something I'm going to put all my work toward it and accomplish it."
The goal is to complete the bus by the end of the spring. When the snow melts, Will and Ava will load up and travel to South Dakota, Yellowstone, Montana, Washington, and drive down the California coast — and then go from there.
"I want to buy raw land, get as many acres as I can, because that would be cool, and then I could drive the bus onto the land, and have my house, and go from there," Swanson says. "I want to homestead somewhere in the Midwest, maybe Nebraska, Iowa or Missouri — we'll figure it out — and I want to farm and get animals. Me and Ava want to homestead and live that life. That's so cool.
"I wouldn't say Ava instantly jumped on board. Nobody was on board for quite a while. It was just me. Now she's really supportive. I think once we go on the trip, we're really going to enjoy it."
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