Utah State University Athletics

Hayden Kingston is in his fourth year at Utah State and first as the quarterbacks coach after serving as an offensive analyst last year. He spent his first two seasons with the program as an offensive graduate assistant. 

During the 2023 campaign, Kingston helped the Aggies to six wins and an appearance in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, which was its third-straight bowl game and 11th in the last 13 seasons. With Kingston on staff, the Aggies led the Mountain West and ranked 25th in the nation in total offense (438.6 ypg). USU was also 26th nationally in scoring offense (33.2 ppg), 30th in rushing offense (184.4 ypg) and 43rd in the nation in passing offense (254.2 ypg).

During the 2022 season, Kingston helped Utah State to six wins and an appearance in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. 

In 2021, Utah State had its best season in school history as it tied the school record with 11 wins (11-3), won its first-ever MW Championship with a 46-13 victory at No. 19 San Diego State, posted a 24-13 win against Oregon State in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl and finished the season ranked 24th in the nation in both polls. 

Utah State’s offense set six school records during the 2021 campaign, including 41 touchdown passes, 4,248 passing yards and three receivers with 10-plus touchdown receptions. USU’s offense also tied a pair of school records with 13 100-yard receiving games and five passing touchdowns in a single game.

Utah State’s offense also produced over 600 yards of total offense twice, and over 400 passing yards three times, all of which rank among the top-16 performances in school history.

Utah State finished the 2021 season ranked 15th in the nation in passing offense (303.4 ypg), 23rd in total offense (445.6 ypg), and 33rd in scoring offense (32.6 ppg). USU was also the only team in the nation with at least 10 touchdown receptions by three players. 

With Kingston’s assistance, graduate junior quarterback Logan Bonner set five school records in 2021, including 3,628 passing yards, 36 touchdown passes, four touchdown passes in three-straight games and four touchdown passes in six games in a season. Bonner also tied the school record for passing touchdowns in a game with five. Bonner finished the season seventh in the nation in passing touchdowns.

Kingston came to Utah State after spending four years as a quarterback at UCF. Prior to UCF, he began his collegiate career at Wake Forest.

Kingston earned Florida Class 7A second-team all-state honors as a prep senior at Viera High School in Melbourne, Fla., and was the runner-up for the Florida Dairy Farmers Player of the Year. He also earned first-team all-District 12 and first-team all-Cape Coast Conference honors and was named the FNLR/Spacecoast Daily co-Offensive Player of the Year and the Brighthouse Networks Football Offensive Player of the Year as a senior. During his senior season in 2015, he threw for 3,876 yards and 42 touchdowns as he led the state of Florida in passing yards and finished second in the state in touchdown passes.

As a prep junior at Viera HS, he completed 72 percent of his passes and threw 23 touchdowns.

Kingston graduated from UCF in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in human communications.