Kansas co-offensive coordinator Jim Zebrowski had to apologize Monday morning to legions of quarterbacks he’s coached over the years for a particular bit of praise he was about to give Ben Easters.
“One of, if not the best, guys in the quarterback room I’ve had,” Zebrowski called him.
That’s high praise for a player entering his redshirt junior season with one career drive to his name. But since arriving as an early enrollee in 2021 shortly before Lance Leipold, Zebrowski and the rest took over, Easters has established himself as a key locker-room presence, not just for his contemporary Daniels but for the younger quarterbacks who have joined the program in years since: Cole Ballard, Mikey Pauley, Isaiah Marshall and the like.
“Ben’s one that continues — as the program has changed some faces — continues to be well respected when he says something,” Leipold said. “It’s received really well and taken to heart, even though he may not be high on the depth chart. That’s really neat to see. Again, in today’s environment and way things are going, to have somebody as completely unselfish as he is to help this team, I think others take notice.”
Marshall certainly has, calling Easters “one of my favorite guys” and noting that he “always does show me the way.”
“Every time I ask him a question, he helps me,” Marshall said. “He always goes through it with me.”
Easters, who originally committed to Les Miles’ staff way back in 2019, didn’t move up into the No. 3 spot after Ethan Vasko transferred in 2023, as Ballard eventually took it, and he certainly won’t be battling Jalon Daniels for a starting job any time soon. Leipold said “he understands the role somewhat, but yet how he goes about it, who he is, how consistent he is, some guys just have some of that ‘it factor.'”
“Whether or not I get on the field, I can pour all of myself into these guys,” Easters said, “and it’s been a really great opportunity to really just be able to give my all to them every day regardless of whether I’m on the field or off the field.”
Easters is an off-the-field presence in the broad sense, but one of his most significant and most literal off-field contributions, Zebrowski said, is greeting his fellow quarterbacks when they come to the sideline.
“Always having that positive guy coming off the field when we’re playing, I think, has been huge for Jalon,” Zebrowski said, “I think Jason (Bean) loved him (even) more.”
Easters and Daniels have forged a bond over the course of several years. Easters said it’s easy to keep Daniels centered because of Daniels’ natural poise.
“Because he’s getting fired up from everywhere else, so I try to be the first to greet him, give him positive reinforcement every time,” he said.
Easters and Ballard have something in common as well: They’re both from the Indianapolis suburbs. Easters, of Brownsburg, and Ballard, of Westfield, barely overlapped in high school and never played against each other directly, but Easters certainly remembers when their schools faced off: “I think he was injured but they beat us on a two-point conversion, stupid reverse at the end of the game.
“It gets brought up every once in a while, for sure,” he added.
Ballard took over midway through KU’s game against Texas Tech last season due to an injury to Bean, and started the next game against Kansas State. But when Bean returned to run up a 26-margin at Cincinnati the following week, it was Easters who got the call to lead KU’s clock-killing drive.
“We gave him a run play too, and of course he lowered his head,” Zebrowski said, noting that it might be an “Indiana thing” because of Ballard’s own tendency to take on contact.
The drive had a happy ending, a fourth-and-3 touchdown by Dylan McDuffie after Easters’ 3-yard run.
“It was really awesome,” Easters said. “Fortunately, playing at Cincinnati, being from Indianapolis, my family was able to be there. It was really cool kind of seeing the hard work and the years of work put into it finally come to fruition … It was a really special experience and something that I’ll remember forever.”
The specific set of circumstances that led to Easters’ lone collegiate action may not unfold in 2024, but his impact will be felt all the same.
“He’s so bought into what we’re doing here, in terms of culture, that it’s been great,” Zebrowski said. “You love to have him. He’s a terrific person.”
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