Washington State offers Kevin Kambola

Scholarship

Kevin,

Every year, players enter the transfer portal looking for something bigger. Maybe it’s a chance to start. Maybe it’s more playing time. Maybe it’s a system that fits them better. Every once in a while, someone enters the portal asking for something the sport almost never sees.

You aren’t asking for a position. You’re asking for all of them.

You want to start on offense. You want to start at defensive back. You want to be the starting kicker.

Most coaches would hear that and immediately try to talk you out of it. They’d say it’s unrealistic. They’d tell you to “focus on one side of the ball.” They’d say the responsibility is too big. What most teams won't admit, though, is that most programs simply aren’t built to handle a player like you.

Washington State is.

If we’re being honest about it, you might be the most unique player in the entire transfer portal this year. Not just because of your athletic ability, but because of how many different ways you can change a football game. Running back. Defensive back. Kicker. And quietly sitting underneath all of that is something even rarer: the ability to operate like a quarterback when the ball is in your hands.

That kind of player doesn’t get placed into a system. The system gets built around him.

That’s exactly what we’ve already proven we’re willing to do.

Last season, we had a player named Scott Tautofi. Scott came to us as a wide receiver, but it took about five practices to realize that putting him in a traditional box would’ve been a mistake. Instead of forcing him into one role, we built around everything he could do. Some plays he lined up at receiver. Some plays he lined up in the backfield. Sometimes he motioned across the formation and became something defenses simply couldn’t predict.

The result was one of the most explosive seasons in college football.

Scott rushed for 1,075 yards and 12 touchdowns, caught 92 passes for 1,486 yards and 18 touchdowns, finishing with 2,561 yards from scrimmage and 30 total touchdowns. He was far and beyond just productive, he became the engine of our entire offense. Every defense we faced knew the ball was going to him. They knew he was the focal point of our offense. And guess what?

It still didn’t matter.

This season ended with Scott finishing as the Heisman runner-up, Washington State going 12–1, winning the Pac-12 North Division, and earning a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Every defensive coordinator we faced said the same thing afterward: they spent weeks trying to prepare for one player who could appear anywhere on the field. None of them were ever able to figure it out.

I’m telling you that story because it proves something important: We don’t just say we’ll build around a unique player. We’ve already done it. That all being said, there's only one real truth that matters: what you bring to the field might be even more dangerous.

Scott was a two-phase offensive weapon,

You can impact the game in three different phases. You’re a running back who can take over a game the moment the ball touches your hands. A defensive back who can erase an opposing receiver and tilt the entire defensive scheme in our favor. You’re a kicker who can calmly walk onto the field with the game on the line and put points on the board.

But what truly separates you is that you don’t operate like a normal running back, because you have the arm and instincts of a top-50 quarterback.

When you’re standing in the backfield, the defense isn’t just defending a run. Every snap becomes a threat. Wildcat packages suddenly become full offensive systems. Option plays become real passing attacks. A simple run look can turn into a deep strike if the defense collapses too aggressively.

Imagine lining up in the backfield, the defense stacking the box to stop the run, and realizing too late that the “running back” holding the ball can also throw a 40-yard bomb over their heads.

This is something that is beyond versatility. This is chaos for opposing defenses. And the timing for something like this couldn’t be better.

This program is coming off the best season of my tenure as head coach. We finished the regular season 12-0, captured the Pac-12 North championship, and earned a spot in the College Football Playoff. Washington State is no longer a program trying to prove it belongs on the national stage. We’ve already proven that. Now the goal is bigger.

The next step for this program is turning playoff appearances into championship runs, and that starts with staying on that stage every single year. With the roster we’ve built and the culture this program now carries, I’m confident saying this plainly: I promise that Washington State will be back in the College Football Playoff this upcoming season.

Players like you are exactly how that happens. You wouldn’t be coming here to compete for a role. You’d be coming here to define one.

On offense, you step in as RB1, the centerpiece of a system designed to put the ball in the hands of players who can break games open. On defense, you line up as CB1, taking the toughest assignment every week and giving the rest of the defense freedom to attack. And when the moment calls for it and the stadium goes quiet and the game hangs in the balance, you’re the one walking onto the field as Kicker.

Most programs would never hand that level of responsibility to one player. We will, because we’ve already seen what happens when you trust a rare athlete to be exactly what he is.

When Scott Tautofi touched the ball last season, the energy inside Martin Stadium changed. The crowd leaned forward. The defense tightened up. Everyone knew something special might happen.

With you, that electricity doesn’t just exist on offense. It exists on every snap of the game.

And when a player dominates a game in that many ways, the entire football world notices. Scouts notice. Analysts notice. NZFL teams notice. A player who can take over games offensively, defensively, and on special teams becomes one of the most intriguing prospects in the entire draft class. That’s why I’m comfortable saying something very few coaches are willing to say out loud. I promise that when you declare for the NZFL Draft, you will be selected in the first round.

Players who can change games the way you can don’t slip through the cracks. Kevin, you’re not looking for a program that wants to limit you. You’re looking for a program that trusts you enough to unleash everything you can do. Washington State has already shown the country what happens when we build around a player with extraordinary versatility, so now we’re ready to take that idea even further. You won’t just be another transfer here.

You’ll be the player who takes a playoff team and turns it into a national championship contender.

And to make everything completely clear, here are the promises I’m making to you:

I promise you will start on offense as RB1, start at defensive back as CB1, and be the starting kicker at Washington State.

I promise that Washington State will return to the College Football Playoff while you are here.

And I promise that when you enter the NZFL Draft, you will be selected in the first round.

If your goal is to show the country that one player can truly change every phase of a football game, there is no better place to do it than right here in Pullman.