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LOGAN — As a candle flickered at the edge of his desk, Chuckie Keeton leaned back in his chair in his office on the second floor of the Athletics Academics Complex — his attention turned to the cable news on the TV. Behind him, on a shelf in the corner, lay championship rings and other items of memorabilia.
Yet to reach his 30th birthday, Keeton is not far removed from his legendary Utah State career, where he shattered program passing records and helped lead the program's on-field transition from a WAC powerhouse to a Mountain West title contender. But the seven-year distance between Keeton's final game and the present has spanned a life of its own; he's already embarked on his sixth year as a coach and second season as Utah State's running back coach.
Back in a place where his reputation precedes him, Keeton feels right at home.
"It's funny talking about my journey," Keeton said. "The fact that I'm coaching my backs right now is not just an incredible thing for me, but talking to one of my friends that I went to school with, she was telling me that this is something I talked about whenever I was still in school: eventually coming back to Utah State and coaching here and all that. So I'm kind of speaking it all into existence, even when I'm not even paying attention to it."
What is clear in speaking to Keeton is his level of intelligence — logically, as he talks eloquently on the complexities of football, but also emotionally, as his perspective of life seeps with compassion and experience.
This is manifested in his words as he explains the learning curve of creating a family-type environment with his running back unit while maintaining the boundaries of a coach and player relationship. It's seen in his actions during fall camp, where he wore a #TeamBSuite T-shirt to honor his late teammate Brian Suite, who died after a battle with stage 4 sarcoma in 2020.
And it's emphasized by the people around him.
"He's a great guy, man, like on and off the field," running back Calvin Tyler Jr. said. "We talk a lot more about life stuff than we do about football. So just having him in the room, it's a blessing because we learn from him."
"The person and the character of Chuckie Keeton is far greater than the player Chuckie Keeton," said former Utah State coach and Oklahoma assistant Matt Wells. "And in my opinion, he's one of the best quarterbacks to play at Utah State.
"It feels like he's part of our family; my children look up to him in so many ways. He's a young man who epitomizes class."
Keeton, whose full name is Charles Adam Keeton IV, is named after his father. It's a name he takes seriously and understands the responsibility of representing Charles, his mother Lavern, and his whole family. He is a deep believer in his Christian faith and relies upon God amid uncertainty. Both pillars have been key for Keeton as he navigated through challenges.
In 2013, Keeton went from a Heisman candidate and potential first-round draft pick to a guy standing on the sidelines on crutches. Over the course of his career from 2011-15, he went from being the king of Logan, getting carried off the field after a bowl game in celebratory fashion, to being called the "Derrick Rose of college football," where he endured the physical and emotional toll of three different knee injuries.
These experiences, which Wells refers to as his "untold story," have shaped the path Keeton has taken in the past decade of his life and helped shape him into the man he strives to be.
'Something special'
Utah State tight end coach DJ Tialavea's relationship with Keeton began in 2011. Fresh out of Cypress Creek High in Houston, Keeton arrived in Logan in June and became Tialavea's upstairs neighbor at Oakridge Apartments. Eager to learn the offense, Keeton frequently went downstairs to ask questions. Tialavea, an incoming sophomore, had a major role on the offense and was happy to help — he soon found out the Texas gunslinger was different.
"This dude was 17 years old," Tialavea said. "We had a game against Auburn in like 12 weeks, and he dove right into the playbook. And by the time Auburn rolled around, he knew the playbook better than I did."
Wells, who was the quarterback coach at the time and the coach who recruited Keeton out of high school, was also impressed. Before the second scrimmage of fall camp, a defensive coach came to Wells and warned him they were going to "light (Keeton) up" with blitz packages. The Aggies defense brought five- and six-man pressures the whole day, all in an effort to rattle him. It didn't work, as Keeton performed "magnificently."
"We all walked off the field and said, 'This kid's got a chance to be something special," Wells said.
Weeks later, against defending champion Auburn, Keeton was 21-of-30 passing for 213 yards and two rushing touchdowns. A touchdown with 3:18 left in the game gave Utah State a 38-28 lead, but an improbable Auburn comeback spoiled the upset. Still, the legacy of Keeton had begun.
Utah State went 7-6 that season and made its first bowl appearance since 1997, but Keeton missed the final five games of the season with a neck injury. He quickly bounced back, and the following season was a part of one of the greatest Aggies teams in program history. The team went 11-2, beat Utah and a nationally ranked Louisiana Tech team, and won the WAC championships outright.
Keeton passed for a then-program record 3,373 yards in 2012, and Wells credited Keeton as a "big reason" he was able to get the head coaching job at Utah State in 2013 after Gary Andersen left for Wisconsin.
Amid his success, Keeton had set a high standard.
After defeating Idaho 45-6 to win the conference in 2012, he could not enjoy himself because he was upset with the two interceptions he threw in the game. Following a win over Toledo in the bowl game, he was frustrated he'd been carried off the field because he felt running back Kerwyen Williams was more deserving of the honor.
He had an expectation for success that, while borderline unhealthy, truly influenced Utah State's transformation from a floundering program to a mid-major power.
"He is a tremendous leader and was as a player," Wells said. "Because of his work ethic, because of his integrity, because of his standards that he had."
Entering his junior season, Keeton was poised to lead Utah State to another big year. But the hype did not last.
'The struggle'
Just before a game against BYU on Oct. 4, 2013, Keeton received a text message from his father that he was second on an NFL draft board, behind Fresno State's Derrick Carr. Prior to that moment, he hadn't thought much of the NFL. But by then, he started to realize his potential; and for a moment, it felt good.
That feeling abruptly ended.
In the first quarter against the Cougars, Keeton scrambled out of the pocket and took a leap to avoid a tackle from diving linebacker Remington Peck. Keeton landed on his left knee awkwardly and had to be helped out of the game; he tore both his ACL and MCL on the play and was out for the season.
For Utah State, it was a gut-wrenching loss; and for Keeton, it was a complete shock to the system.
"It was a very dark time," Keeton said. "Going from my dad sending me a text message of, 'Hey, you're No. 2 behind Derrick Carr' to, 'Hey, you can't walk,' or 'you can't walk as well as you used to,' it went from a true high to a true down point."
Delving into the unfamiliar territory of physical pain and rehab, Keeton felt like he was carrying the toll on his own, which added to his burdensome experience. He was able to work his way back to full health prior to the 2014 season, but in a Sept. 13 game against Wake Forest, he re-aggravated his knee and was out for the season, once again.
Keeton returned as a medical redshirt for the 2015 season, only to sprain his knee that September.
"I think that's the untold story of Chuckie Keeton, is just the struggle that he really did go through those last three years," Wells said. "Through multiple injuries and the rehab process, the kid has been in the mud, he's been in the dark and in some valleys from a physical standpoint. But yet outwardly, he always maintained a positive outlook; he maintained an upbeat personality in the midst of it."
Internally, Keeton may not have been as upbeat and positive initially, but he found ways to grow after each injury. He learned he didn't have to internalize the struggle he was going through and relied on his support system.
"Everybody wants to paint a perfect picture," Keeton said. "But it's OK to be weak at times. And Christian-wise, that's when God is the strongest, so it's OK to address that.
"A lot of it has to deal with, yes, you can have a down period. But how are you going to control it? It can hit rock bottom if you allow it to hit rock bottom, or it can barely just sink below, sink below zero and then you bounce right back up."
Keeton feels his best post-injury course of action occurred in 2015. After two years of a "let's just bang our brain out" mentality, he sat down and realized he needed to stay dialed in. He focused on supporting quarterback Kent Myers and determined he was going to take the steps to try and return before the season ended.
His mother frequently urged Keeton to "make sure he was ready." In turn, he was diligent in building up his strength, staying after practice to work on his conditioning, and preparing for the final stretch of his career. Keeton returned to the field against New Mexico on Nov. 7; and against BYU on Nov. 28, he captured the school record for career passing touchdowns, a record that still stands.
"To me, I guess my life is about making the most out of it," Keeton said. "I always mess with everybody and I say like, 'Hey, a Black quarterback gotta know how to scramble,' but at the end of the day, it's always positive because if you're scrambling that means that you're still finding ways, you're still optimistic enough to find a solution or find a positive result."
'Window of opportunity'
In December 2020, Wells, then the Texas Tech head coach, received a phone call from Utah State's new head coach, Blake Anderson, inquiring about Keeton, who was a Red Raiders offensive graduate assistant.
"I told him to hire him and thank me later," Wells said.
Anderson did just that and hired Keeton on his staff. Keeton was back in Logan in January 2021, eating at Angie's with the new coaching staff and carrying the title of running back coach.
It was a rapid ascent to a positional coaching position at his alma mater.
After graduating from Utah State, Keeton accepted a mini-camp invite with the Houston Texans in 2016. Then, he interviewed with the producers of the MTV reality TV show "Are You The One?" But by the fall of 2016, he was back in football, as a graduate assistant on Andersen's staff at Oregon State. He returned to Logan in 2018 as a grad assistant on Wells' staff before following him to Lubbock.
And now, he's under Anderson's tutelage.
Keeton is often asked how a former quarterback ended up as a running back coach. But with his level of intuition, his experience playing the position in high school, and the several years spent on the sidelines alongside other offensive geneses, he's well qualified for the job.
The question he asks himself, instead, is how he can help his running backs reach their potential on and off the field. Fortunately for Keeton, his experiences, both the highs and lows, make him ready for the opportunity.
"I've dealt with enough stuff in my NCAA life, I should say, to be able to mentor these guys," Keeton said. "Honestly, the toughest part of the whole thing is understanding that we have a time frame, or we have a window of opportunity for this entire thing. And some guys see it as, 'Man, I have five years.' A lot of guys don't understand that really it's a day-to-day thing because so many different things can happen."
Entering the 2022 season, Keeton is set to mentor a running back group led by Tyler Jr., who similar to Keeton, is a Texas kid who has endured his own struggles throughout his college career. When speaking of Tyler Jr., Keeton expresses his adoration toward the senior, while reiterating the lofty expectations he has for him.
He speaks of his entire unit that way — like a proud father who thinks his kid should be the starting shortstop and does not tolerate failure.
And while the flashy runs, the touchdown throws and the celebratory somersaults are in the past, the flicker in Keeton's eye and his admiration for the game remains.
"I'm very grateful for how it's gone," Keeton said about his journey. "The toughest part is not understanding exactly why things happen and not understanding why things happen for me, but I've got a high sense of faith in God. So I understand that things do happen for a reason and know that it's still within my power to kind of write the end of the story."
