by Around this time last year, the Kent State football team was dead in the water. Posting just one win across 2023 and 2024, the program struggled on and off the field, and then-head coach Kenni Burns was dismissed following an internal investigation.
Nobody had the Flashes anywhere else than the bottom of the Mid-American Conference last year, but (then) interim head coach Mark Carney spearheaded a massive revival of the program.
This season, the Flashes are looking to improve on their best campaign in years(5-7 in 2025, best record since 2022), and even have their sights on the 2026 MAC Championship. However, the road to Detroit is built on an incredibly tough schedule inside and outside the conference, and it starts on the road against the South Carolina Gamecocks.
“So excited for the challenge. Excited to deal with the expectations that this fall brings,” Carney said on Monday. “I think every person in our program took ownership upon themselves to individually improve.”
Head coach Shane Beamer’s squad is coming off a very disappointing season. The Gamecocks opened the year with playoff expectations, but could not manage in a tough Southeastern Conference after nagging injuries and poor play dragged them down to a 4-8 finish.
However, with Beamer on the hot seat and the return of junior quarterback LaNorris Sellers, the Gamecocks are on the majority of bounce-back lists throughout the country, and will welcome KSU into Williams-Brice Stadium as 36.5-point favorites.
“We’re going into an SEC environment; it’s one of the outstanding environments in all of college football. One of my favorites in all the country, and against a team that’s really, really hungry,” Carney said. “Great players, great coaches.”
Even though KSU will be massive road dogs against the Gamecocks, Ohio State (Sept.19), and South Florida (Oct. 17), the team still has its best days in front of them, as the Flashes went through an extensive roster reload via the transfer portal and the MAC’s sixth-best 2025 recruiting class. Although major losses like C.J. Young to conference-foe Miami and Cade Wolford to Cincinnati will definitely sting, here’s how Kent State’s talented roster shakes out.
Quarterbacks
Led by the hometown kid, redshirt junior Dru DeShields, the Flashes quarterback room is in the best shape it’s been since Dustin Crum was slinging the ball back around the turn of the decade.
The starting quarterback job was juggled between DeShields and CJ Montes, but after a huge blowout win against UMass last October, the Beloit native never looked back. After he was ingrained as the starter, the Flashes went 3-2 with huge road wins against Akron and Northern Illinois.
DeShields finished the season with 2,030 passing yards, 18 passing touchdowns and a completion percentage of 56. The resilient signal-caller had the best performance of his career against the rival Zips, completing 17 of 25 passes for 317 yards and five touchdowns in an overtime win that helped him and KSU gain national attention.
“He’s [DeShields] understanding in year two and going into the second year as a solidified starter that it’s his team, and there’s a great responsibility that comes with that,” Carney said. “Both on and off the field. He’s been dealing with how to manage those things extraordinarily well.”
Expectations are certainly high for DeShields, and they aren’t just external-he himself said he expects to play for the conference title game this December. The Flashes haven’t seen competent quarterback play in consecutive seasons for quite some time, and they haven’t been to a bowl game since 2021.
But of all the quarterbacks to come to campus since then, no one has had the same impact as DeShields, and he certainly has the pieces around him to bring KSU to special places.
As for the quarterbacks behind him, redshirt freshman and Avon Lake native Nolan Good saw a bit of action last season, completing five of 10 passes across a pair of games in 2025. Good will likely enter the 2026 season as DeShields’ understudy.
The Flashes also welcomed in Kent Roosevelt High School graduate and local quarterback Gavin Peeps.
Running backs
One of the most productive position groups last season, Kent State’s running back room is also one of the youngest squads on the roster. Despite losing leading rusher Gavin Garcia to The Citadel, the Flashes reloaded with some strong, locally-acquired running backs.
The oldest of the bunch are graduate student Mason King and redshirt senior Donovan Delaney Jr., the former of whom transferred in from Illinois State. Before injuries cut his playing time with the Redbirds, King performed very well at the FCS level, running for 983 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2023.
Outside of the veterans, keep an eye out for the Flashes’ Ohio-born backs, specifically freshman Bradon White and Jackson Farley, and redshirt sophomore Jakorion Caffey.
White, hailing from his head coach’s alma mater St.Edward’s High School, is coming off a spectacular senior season with the Eagles. Rushing for 1,822 yards and 23 touchdowns on a whopping 234 carries across 13 games, he was named to the 2025 Northeast Lakes Division I First-Team Offense. Carney and the Flashes just might have found a massive hidden gem in their backyard with ‘B-White’.
Also a member of the 2025 Northeast Lakes Division I First-Team Offense, Farley hails from the great Ohio football hotbed of Mentor, in Lake County. Ranked as the 149th best Ohio high school player in the 2025 class by 247 Sports, Farley ran for 1,589 yards and 26 touchdowns in ten games in 2025.
Both of these true freshman backs will see the field this season, and could both play a major role this fall.
As for Caffey, the former Cincinnati Bearcat and top 50 Ohio high school prospect has been kept off the field for nearly every sliver of his collegiate career, as he only boasts two carries across two seasons under his belt. However, with more of an opportunity to play at KSU, the redshirt sophomore will be looking to remind folks why he was ranked so highly coming out of Avon High School.
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
By far the deepest position group on the roster, KSU’s wide receivers might also be the most talented of the Flashes.
Newly hired receivers coach and KSU alum Issac Vance’s group is highlighted by senior special teams ace Da’Realyst Clark and redshirt sophomore Wayne Harris, two highly talented weapons that the Flashes worked hard to keep this offseason.
Harris, out of Charleston, West Virginia, appeared in all 12 games with 35 receptions for 383 yards and one touchdown. Although his 2025 stats may not jump out at you, his athleticism and agility certainly will, and he demonstrated that with a punt return touchdown late last season against Central Michigan. The redshirt sophomore is on many award watchlists, including the Allstate Wuerffel Trophy and Phil Steele’s Preseason All-MAC First Team (PR).
As for Clark, special teams is his bread and butter. However, saying that sort of excludes his true bread and butter-being anywhere on the football field.
Playing in all 12 games, the Lima, Ohio, native scored in nearly every way possible-and when the Flashes won last, a big Clark moment was at the source of victory.
His kickoff return touchdown in the home opener brought KSU its first victory in over two years. His trick play end-around passing touchdown to Harris sealed the Flashes’ first victory over rival Bowling Green in over four years. And finally, Clark’s 89-yard bomb of a receiving touchdown was crucial for KSU’s win at Akron.
All in all, the man is a bona fide playmaker, and his experience throughout the lower-division ranks has turned him into a well-seasoned winner. However, with all the success he had in 2025, it will be interesting to see how teams handle having Clark on their scouting reports in 2026, and how they handle covering him.
Outside of the star special teamers, the Flashes brought in a pair of three-star receiving recruits from Pennsylvania in Zymir Reed and Brendyn Smith.
Redshirt senior tight end Terik Mulder is coming off a very strong 2025 campaign in which he averaged over 10 yards per reception and caught a touchdown in four out of KSU’s five wins.
The Trenches
Outside of the quarterback, there’s nothing more important in football than the big guys manning both sides of the line of scrimmage.
For the Flashes, the offensive line was a huge strength last season, highlighted by redshirt senior Dustyn Morell and redshirt sophomore Jaxon Dunn.
“Dusty’s a year better. He’s gonna return and wear the number 54, which is a huge deal in our program-he earned it,” Carney said.
On the other side of the line, redshirt senior Thomas Aden is coming back, and with him comes a huge veteran presence.
Linebackers and Secondary
Returning to Portage County after a year at South Florida, redshirt senior Rocco Nicholl headlines KSU’s linebacker room. Nicholl is a member of the Phil Steele Preseason All-MAC Second Team and the Athlon Sports Preseason All-MAC Second Team.
In the secondary, sophomore cornerback Joel Cordoba returns, coming off a season with 68 tackles across all 12 games.
