De’Arieun Hicks brings FCS experience to Kansas State as the 2026 kickoff approaches

With 2026 kickoff now close enough to plan around, Kansas State’s defensive tackle room has a new name in the mix, De’Arieun Hicks. The program’s latest preseason spotlight on Hicks frames him as a long, developmental piece who adds size up front and a background rooted in the FCS level, where reps and role understanding often grow at a different pace than at the FBS level.

Hicks is a defensive tackle, and the profile notes that he is majoring in sociology. It also places his timeline in context, listing his birth date as April 7, 2006. For the 2024 season, Hicks redshirted and did not see game action for Gardner-Webb, his prior stop, a detail that matters because it suggests the reps he gained were likely spent learning schemes, building strength, and positioning himself for future opportunities rather than producing in live contests.

The transfer from the FCS ranks to Kansas State is a step many defensive linemen make when they are ready for a new environment and a clearer path to consistent development. Kansas State, competing in the Big 12, typically asks its interior linemen to be disciplined in gap soundness while still being flexible enough to adjust to varied offensive looks. For a defensive tackle like Hicks, that means translating technique work into repeatable performances in a faster tempo, against higher-level blocking and more specialized run and pass concepts.

Because the 2024 year at Gardner-Webb is described as a redshirt season with no game action, the immediate focus for Hicks is likely to be situational preparation and execution during practice, rather than instant impact in a stat sheet. Defensive tackle is a position where coaches often measure progress in small increments: leverage, pad level, hand placement, stamina over a full week, and the ability to stay within the assignment even when offensive personnel shift. Those are the areas that can be hardest to quantify until the first live snaps, which is why a profile like this is best read as a glimpse of potential rather than a preview of a specific production target.

The timing also matters. A countdown feature timed to the approach of 2026 kickoff is designed to introduce how offseason additions and returners are expected to fit into the team’s identity. Hicks’ sociology major is a reminder that the developmental path for student-athletes includes academics and daily routine alongside football commitments. For fans, the next step is watching how Hicks absorbs Kansas State’s interior defensive calls as camps and the early season progress, and whether he can convert offseason learning into the kind of on-field steadiness coaches value most from the middle of the front.

What to watch next is straightforward but requires patience. First, look for Hicks’ role in the defensive line rotation during preseason work. Second, track how quickly he responds to different blocking schemes, since interior defensive linemen are tested constantly on whether they can win with sound fundamentals. Third, pay attention to the way Kansas State’s staff uses his background, including how they structure his reps after a redshirt year, with an emphasis on building consistency rather than forcing immediate exposure.