Childhood friends Briley Moore, Skylar Thompson living out dream as K-State teammates
Briley Moore and Skylar Thompson have been competing against each other since they were in elementary school. They have gone at it on the basketball court and on the football field for years at various locations across their home state of Missouri, but they have never worn the same uniform.
So it is surreal for both of them to think about how that will change in less than two weeks when they finally become teammates in a Kansas State football game ... as college seniors.
Moore is the Wildcats’ newest tight end and a potential difference-maker after transferring in from Northern Iowa during the offseason. He grew up in Blue Springs. Thompson is the Wildcats’ unquestioned starting quarterback and arguably the face of the entire team. He was born in Palmyra.
They kept in touch after they enrolled in different universities and often worked out together and stayed sharp whenever they were home during the summer. When those sessions ended, they always talked about how great it would be to play on the same team.
But they never thought it was going to happen.
“Looking back at where we are now,” Moore said, “it just seems like it’s almost too good to be true.”
It can take years for a pass-catching tight end like Moore to build a strong relationship with a quarterback, but that isn’t a problem for him because he has known Thompson since they were in little league and he has been catching passes from him in casual settings for, well, years.
Thompson will happily treat Moore like a shiny new tiny in the Wildcats’ offense this season. K-State coaches love throwing to tight ends, as evidenced by how involved that position was in North Dakota State’s passing game when offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham and head coach Chris Klieman worked together in Fargo.
It’s been a long time since K-State had a tight end as versatile as Moore, a 6-foot-4 and 250-pounder who can block and run routes. He fits the Klieman mold.
During his time at Northern Iowa, he put up numbers that would make just about any former K-State tight end drool. He caught 85 passes for 1,116 yards and five touchdowns while playing in 36 games and making 22 starts. He was an all-conference player as a junior and appeared on his way to a repeat performance until his senior year was derailed by injury.
Now he gets another shot to go out with a bang. He is ready to prove himself at the Big 12 level after choosing K-State over Baylor and Missouri during his recruitment process as a graduate transfer.
Thing is, his recruitment wasn’t a very heated battle. When he announced his decision to leave Northern Iowa, he crossed his fingers and told himself “I hope K-State calls.”
“That’s because of the things that I’ve seen them do with their tight ends while I was at Northern Iowa,” Moore said. “They always got the best of us. A couple times we thought we were going to get them, but I was 0-4 against them, so I got to see a lot of what they do on offense.”
Once Klieman offered a scholarship, Moore said “it was a no-brainer from there.”
The Wildcats were happy to sign him. K-State players rarely publicly celebrate the addition of a new recruit, but they made a big deal on Twitter about Moore. Thompson naturally led the charge.
“Briley is going to be a definite impact player for us this year,” Klieman said. “I think you can tell his exceptional physical skills, whether it’s blocking at the point of attack, running routes. He’s gained respect from our older guys really, really fast just because of how he works and the fact that he competes on every down.
“He’s going to help us. You can put him down as a tight end. You can flex him out. You can put him in the backfield. I’m really impressed with his ability to learn what we’re doing. I’m excited to see what kind of year he has.”
It has already been a fun ride for Moore.
Thompson was the first person he texted when he officially began considering a transfer to K-State. Thompson was also the first person Moore met when he arrived on campus. That moment was many years in the making. After a long wait, they were finally teammates.
“We just started laughing and just talking about how crazy it was and how both of our paths ended up crossing the way that they did,” Moore said, “with an injury for me last year preventing me from playing my senior season. Now it’s just unreal.”
This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 12:31 PM with the headline "Childhood friends Briley Moore, Skylar Thompson living out dream as K-State teammates."