Photo by: Garrett Becker
BOBCATS 125: Kevin Kassis
7/8/2022 2:00:00 PM | Football
A one-time walk-on, Kevin Kassis' path led him from a well-defined role to Bobcat greatness to a shot at the NFL
Leading to the 2022 season, the 125th anniversary of Montana State's first football team, we will look at 125 of the greatest Bobcats. You can find details here and a directory here.
Kevin Kassis, WR, 2016-19
ALL-TIME TEAM: None previously
HONORS: 3rd Team All-Big Sky in 2019
A CLOSER LOOK: It's tempting, even easy, to reverse engineer Kevin Kassis' Bobcat career and construct an arc of inevitable success that led him to a brilliant senior season and, ultimately, to his chance to live a dream as an NFL player.
But it wasn't that way. It was never that way. Kassis' excellence radiated throughout Bobcat Stadium in 2018 and 2019, but he arrived in the fall of 2016 with no obvious role. Mitchell Herbert was the lead receiver in a run-oriented offense, and Kassis broke into a varsity role by becoming a return specialist as well as a pass-catcher (nine receptions as a true freshman). Kassis caught 21 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns in 2017, and moving into the lead receiver role the next two seasons he dominated the Bobcat pass game. He accounted for one-third of all MSU receptions as a junior and more than one-quarter as a senior on teams that combined for three FCS Playoff wins. Every game you'd think to yourself, 'There's no way Kevin can make a catch as brilliant as last week.' And every game he'd seem to top himself.
Kassis wasn't a great player for his entire four-year career as a Bobcat receiver, but he was an important one. He was unquestionably great his final two seasons. But There was one defining moment when, like the mythical Black Sox crossing into the corn field in "Field of Dreams" he stepped across the line to legend status.
After forcing a turnover deep in Grizzly territory on the first drive of the 2019 Cat-Griz game, MSU faced a third-and-goal from the UM eight. Kassis took the ball on a reverse toss, moving to his right, and for one flash of a moment appeared to be looking to throw. Taking advantage of the moment of hesitation that created in the UM defense, Kassis sprinted toward the Sonny Holland end zone and snuck inside the pylon for the game's first score.
And that was all it really took. The floodgates were open, and the Cats never looked back. That game was a perfect encapsulation of his career. MSU ran the ball 62 times for 406 yards, throwing only 14 passes and eight. Kassis caught two of those, eventually completed a pass, and carried on the eight-yard touchdown run. He impacted the game in so many ways without jumping off the stat sheet.
Even as a receiver in a grind-it-out offense, Kassis was a star. And even on a team built from the ground up with four-year players that will be remembered throughout Bobcat history, Kassis' personality, his pleasant demeanor grounded by the will to do whatever it took to win, echoes to this day.
FROM FORMER BOBCAT HEAD COACH JEFF CHOATE: "Kevin should have been a first or second team all conference player his senior year, but he was a four-year starter who was very important to the Bobcat program. What Kevin did to be on this list in my mind is that he was an unbelievable leader, a guy who was really, really transformative in getting the program from 4-7 to a team playing in national semis as senior. I really think he had a chance to do something in the Covid year so that he might already be on an NFL roster. When you look at what we were, a vertical run and vertical pass team that took a lot of shots, he was really important and really productive. He made himself a great player by working hard. We were good at evaluating talent, but better at finding guys fit what did. And Kevin was a perfect fit."
Kevin Kassis, WR, 2016-19
ALL-TIME TEAM: None previously
HONORS: 3rd Team All-Big Sky in 2019
A CLOSER LOOK: It's tempting, even easy, to reverse engineer Kevin Kassis' Bobcat career and construct an arc of inevitable success that led him to a brilliant senior season and, ultimately, to his chance to live a dream as an NFL player.
But it wasn't that way. It was never that way. Kassis' excellence radiated throughout Bobcat Stadium in 2018 and 2019, but he arrived in the fall of 2016 with no obvious role. Mitchell Herbert was the lead receiver in a run-oriented offense, and Kassis broke into a varsity role by becoming a return specialist as well as a pass-catcher (nine receptions as a true freshman). Kassis caught 21 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns in 2017, and moving into the lead receiver role the next two seasons he dominated the Bobcat pass game. He accounted for one-third of all MSU receptions as a junior and more than one-quarter as a senior on teams that combined for three FCS Playoff wins. Every game you'd think to yourself, 'There's no way Kevin can make a catch as brilliant as last week.' And every game he'd seem to top himself.
Kassis wasn't a great player for his entire four-year career as a Bobcat receiver, but he was an important one. He was unquestionably great his final two seasons. But There was one defining moment when, like the mythical Black Sox crossing into the corn field in "Field of Dreams" he stepped across the line to legend status.
After forcing a turnover deep in Grizzly territory on the first drive of the 2019 Cat-Griz game, MSU faced a third-and-goal from the UM eight. Kassis took the ball on a reverse toss, moving to his right, and for one flash of a moment appeared to be looking to throw. Taking advantage of the moment of hesitation that created in the UM defense, Kassis sprinted toward the Sonny Holland end zone and snuck inside the pylon for the game's first score.
And that was all it really took. The floodgates were open, and the Cats never looked back. That game was a perfect encapsulation of his career. MSU ran the ball 62 times for 406 yards, throwing only 14 passes and eight. Kassis caught two of those, eventually completed a pass, and carried on the eight-yard touchdown run. He impacted the game in so many ways without jumping off the stat sheet.
Even as a receiver in a grind-it-out offense, Kassis was a star. And even on a team built from the ground up with four-year players that will be remembered throughout Bobcat history, Kassis' personality, his pleasant demeanor grounded by the will to do whatever it took to win, echoes to this day.
FROM FORMER BOBCAT HEAD COACH JEFF CHOATE: "Kevin should have been a first or second team all conference player his senior year, but he was a four-year starter who was very important to the Bobcat program. What Kevin did to be on this list in my mind is that he was an unbelievable leader, a guy who was really, really transformative in getting the program from 4-7 to a team playing in national semis as senior. I really think he had a chance to do something in the Covid year so that he might already be on an NFL roster. When you look at what we were, a vertical run and vertical pass team that took a lot of shots, he was really important and really productive. He made himself a great player by working hard. We were good at evaluating talent, but better at finding guys fit what did. And Kevin was a perfect fit."
Players Mentioned
WR
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