This KU QB’s breakout year began at Virginia Inn. It ended with a final unselfish act
The meeting took place at the Virginia Inn & Suites in Lawrence, with John Stanley typing a few letters on his laptop before hitting “Enter.”
This was May 19, 2019 — the day of Carter Stanley’s graduation from KU — and now, it was time to make a decision: Should Carter stay, or should he go?
After four years at KU, Stanley now had options. As a graduate transfer, he’d potentially have one year of immediate eligibility at another school, believing he’d receive interest with lower Power Five schools or even dominant ones in smaller conferences.
So Stanley’s future was about to be decided here — in an economy hotel just off Iowa Street, selected by the family because it was one of the last available during the town’s busiest weekend.
After a few seconds, the website loaded, with Carter, father John and mother Beth gathering around to make sure they were taking in all the information they could.
And it wouldn’t be right to make a final call before taking a look at who else was in the NCAA’s transfer portal.
Reasons to go
Carter Stanley leans back in the cushioned chair, with red sunglasses tucked into the collar of a blue-button down shirt.
It’s early November on KU’s campus — just after Stanley’s seventh consecutive start this season — and he’s asked about how he felt about his chances of winning the job when talking with his family on graduation day.
“I knew it was a little bit below 50 percent,” Stanley said. “I knew it wasn’t truly even at the time.“
Stanley had plenty of reason — even outside of that reality — to believe a move away from KU might be best for him.
His four-year career at the school had been filled with times of frustration, to say the least. He’d worked his way to the Jayhawks’ starting position midway through the previous season — throwing for 247 yards and three touchdowns against Oklahoma State — before getting benched early the next game.
Playing in front of his parents, uncle and grandpa at West Virginia — that also was Beth’s alma mater — Stanley was in just three series. He was ultimately pulled by coach David Beaty after a tipped-pass interception.
Stanley received just two snaps in the team’s six games after that, with Beaty getting fired in November of that year. Les Miles was the new coach, but that brought about a new wave of concerns.
One of Miles’ first moves was to bring in junior-college quarterback Thomas MacVittie, who immediately was elevated to first team at the start of spring practices. There was a moment in drills then when Stanley noticed he and incumbents Daylon Charlot and Evan Fairs were on the sideline, while newcomers MacVittie, Andrew Parchment and Ezra Naylor all were on the field with the No. 1s.
The potential implications were obvious. KU’s athletic department was promoting a “new era” of KU football, so perhaps it was only natural that the coaches might be favoring those guys they’d brought in themselves. The family, quietly, feared that Carter could be eliminated from a chance simply based on marketing reasons.
Carter himself even began envisioning what a potential transfer might look like.
“There was a month there were I thought about it every day,” Stanley said, “like, ‘Do you do it?’”
Some of the conversations with coaches weren’t encouraging either. During one meeting with then-offensive coordinator Les Koenning, Stanley remembers being told, “Yeah, we want you here.”
Stanley felt disrespected. He was about to enter his fifth year in the program, and was told he could compete for the starting job. And KU just “wanted him here”?
Miles, who joined the get-together late, was much more positive. “You have a good chance to be our guy this year,” Stanley remembers him saying, even though the QB was still taking mostly second-team reps in practice.
“There was a lot of doubt,” Stanley said. “There was a lot of doubt with the whole scenario, to be honest.”
It all led to the war room being assembled just after Stanley walked KU’s hill for graduation.
There were a few reasons to stay. Koenning had looked John in the eye at the spring game, promising that Carter would have a fair shot. Sports information director Katy Lonergan also had talks with Carter and his parents, telling them about conversations she’d had with Miles where the coach had spoken up about Carter’s abilities.
Also considered was the previous history. Stanley had given four years to KU, and one of teammate Bryce Torneden’s parents had talked to the family about the roots he’d already established at the school.
Who was to say that things would be better at a different place?
John and Beth were at the meeting for support, telling Carter they’d back him no matter what he decided to do.
Carter kept thinking about the strides he’d made. He felt like he was closing the gap on MacVittie in the spring, and that he was picking up Koenning’s new offense a little more each day. He was even getting better at going under center — something he hadn’t done since eighth grade.
Most of all, Carter wanted to finish what he’d started at KU.
He told his parents he was going to be a Jayhawk for his fifth and final season — a decision he knew he’d regret if he didn’t win the starting job.
“It was a lot of uncertainty,” Carter said, “and just having faith.”
Glad to have stayed
This wasn’t how Stanley envisioned his Senior Day going.
Just a few hours after Stanley hugged his parents pregame along the team’s traditional “Hawk Walk” — he got off the team bus with suit coat and red and blue tie — the quarterback struggled with gusty conditions at Booth Memorial Stadium on Saturday. Stanley threw for just 95 yards with three interceptions before leaving late in the third quarter of KU’s 61-6 blowout loss to Baylor, a frustrating end to a breakthrough season.
Stanley, while starting 12 games in 2019, elevated his standing in the KU record books. His 37 career touchdown passes are second in Jayhawks history behind Ring of Honor member Todd Reesing, and on Saturday, Stanley became just the fifth KU player ever to throw for 5,000 yards in a career.
There were other season highlights too. Stanley was one of the biggest contributors in the team’s upset win at Boston College. The Jayhawks rallied from 17 down in a home win against Texas Tech, and even a 50-48 loss at Texas brought back good memories, as about 15 of his buddies saw him play for the first time since high school, taking cell phone videos of him while crammed in the top rows of Darrell K Royal-Memorial Stadium.
“Just having fun playing football again,” Stanley said.
And that was one of the two main goals for this season.
Stanley, before the year began, set out to earn the starting spot while also wanting to rediscover the joy of playing. He mentioned something similar to his parents in May, saying he just wanted to be a quarterback for a coach who would be excited to have him as a starter.
Miles, in that regard, gave Stanley needed stability. After naming him the starter in August, the coach rarely wavered, only sitting Stanley for one quarter in the Oklahoma State game while saying afterward he was attempting to motivate the senior.
Stanley delivered with that support. Heading into the week, his 63.6 total QBR score — an ESPN advanced metric that rates QB play — was tied for the second-best single season of any KU quarterback since 2005.
Some of that was the result of work in the offseason. Stanley started by correcting a throwing hitch during his freshman year at KU, saying now he believed it came from a subconscious thought that he really needed to push the football out to be a quarterback in the Big 12.
Other areas have improved incrementally. Thanks to work with private quarterback coach Jake Christiansen — a former Iowa quarterback — Stanley improved his release, footwork and weight transfer, which led to him changing his reputation from a scrambling gunslinger early in his career to a pocket-pass specialist late.
It led to something important. For the first time in his college career, Stanley felt like he was wanted — like he was the team’s “guy.”
And all his previous experiences also were part of the reason he decided on a final unselfish act in the closing minutes Saturday.
Stanley’s final decision
Following his third interception against Baylor, Stanley found Miles and offensive coordinator Brent Dearmon on the sideline. He apologized for the turnover, then followed with five words: “Go give Manny a shot.”
Manny Miles — coach Les Miles’ son — was also playing in his last game as a senior.
Stanley, with more than a quarter left in his college career, had made the decision to bench himself ... for the benefit of a teammate.
“I just wanted him to have a moment there to close out his career as well,” Stanley said. “.. I saw a smile on his face a few plays. I think that made it worth it.”
For Stanley, Saturday ended with no regrets.
He’d bet on himself against the odds. He’d stayed put when many in his spot would have envisioned a better path elsewhere.
He’d also accomplished two set-out goals, earning the starting job while also falling back in love with football.
“The memories I’ve made here with these people,” Stanley said, “they’re irreplaceable.”
And they never would’ve happened without Stanley staying loyal through uncertainty.
While always — somehow — finding a way to keep the faith.
This story was originally published November 30, 2019 at 8:42 PM.
