In which BracketCat counts down the 36th day until the 2025 kickoff with a profile of Kansas State safety Jack Fabris.

#36 Jack Fabris

Redshirt Sophomore | 6-2 | 195 lbs. | Bogart, Georgia

Position: Safety
Previous College: None
Projection: Co-Starter
Status: On Scholarship

Jack Fabris (b. April 18, 2004) is a tough tackling young safety with great awareness (watch the film — this kid blows helmets off like Mario Smith) who is majoring in sports nutrition.

This promising specimen saw time in four games in 2023 as he retained his redshirt, carding four tackles and playing on 33 defensive snaps and 15 special teams plays in total.

He recorded two tackles each in the season-opener against SEMO and in the Pop-Tarts Bowl against NC State, while he also earned playing time against Troy and at Oklahoma State.

Fabris played in all 13 games last season with his first two career starts coming against Iowa State and Rutgers, the latter being in the Rate Bowl victory.

He recorded 26 tackles (second only to VJ Payne!), 1.5 tackles for loss, half a sack, an interception, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery over his 280 defensive snaps in 2024.

Fabris critically returned a fumble 60 yards for the winning score at Tulane to break a 27-27 tie, as the Wildcats held on for a 34-27 win. It was the Wildcats’ longest touchdown on a fumble return since 2010 (when walk-on Stephen Harrison ran it back 85 yards at Kansas).

He had a career-high five tackles against West Virginia and Rutgers, picked off his first career pass against the Mountaineers, and had a tackle for loss and half a sack against the Scarlet Knights.

Fabris also saw time on 162 special teams plays as he led the squad with five total special teams tackles, including a team-leading three on punt coverage. He finished the 2024 season with Academic All-Big 12 honors.

Fabris prepped under head coach Tyler Aurandt at North Oconee High School in Bogart, Georgia, where he was viewed as the 117th-best safety in the Class of 2023 by ESPN.

He earned first-team all-state honors as a junior and senior as he helped the Titans win the region championship and advance to a Final 4 both years for the first time in school history.

Fabris also helped the Titans to earn their best record in school history with a 13-1 mark as a senior and was named the region defensive player of the year that same season.

He set the school record for single-season tackles with 173, while he ranks third in school history with 348 total tackles over his three-year varsity career.

Fabris also played baseball and was a first-team all-state performer who helped North Oconee to win the state championship as a junior and senior, while the Titans made it to the Final 4 his sophomore year. He ended his career with a scintillating .414 batting average.

Fabris’ father, Jon, was a football coach for 37 years, including two stints as K-State’s defensive ends coach under Bill Snyder from 1997 to 1998 and from 2017 to 2018, while his younger brother, Michael, currently plays football as a cornerback at William Jewell College.

Jon Fabris also coached collegiately at Georgia Tech, Washington State, Iowa State, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Georgia and Indiana. Jack is a third-generation college football player, following his grandfather Frank (Tulsa), father (Ole Miss) and uncle Robert (Ole Miss).

Jack Fabris chose K-State over Army, Georgia Southern and Old Dominion, as well as interest from home-state schools Georgia and Georgia Tech, Middle Tennessee State, Ole Miss, and Wake Forest. His primary recruiter was defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman.

“He’s a hitter,” Klanderman said. “He’s going to come down and crack you every time. I’m definitely excited.”

Last spring, head coach Chris Klieman praised Fabris for “really stepp(ing) up and (making) us a lot better and deeper in the secondary.” Klieman added that he “just needs to keep learning what we’re doing, but he made a great open-field tackle” during the SEMO game.

Despite his early success, Fabris seems to have a level head on his shoulders and understand his place on a team that still has a lot of talented upperclassmen:

Coach Klieman and all our coaches have been saying whatever the outside noise, focus on the guys in the locker room, play for your teammates and the guys you’re with. The biggest motivation is playing for your teammates and don’t let the seniors down. Our motivation are the players on this team.