Three seasons ago, BYU receiver Parker Kingston found himself at a crossroads.
Unhappy, Kingston was considering leaving BYU, he told Shawn Tanuvasa on Friday’s episode of Center Street Media’s “Faith Huddle.”
“I was almost leaving because I wasn’t happy. I just saw myself being in the same position each year,” he said.
Kingston found himself turning to God for guidance.
“I’d always just get down and pray, like, ‘Please help me. Please lead me in a direction that I need to go and I just kept feeling like I needed to stay,” he said.
Following the 2024 season, Kingston was at the same crossroads again.
“Alright, I need to go somewhere because we got all the receivers coming back. I’m going to be in the same position,” Kingston recalled thinking at the time.
After praying, the receiver decided to stay in Provo another season.
He thought, “‘No, I got to stay. Everything’s going to work out.’”
“And it did. This year I had the best year of my life, and I wouldn’t have had this much success if I had left and went somewhere else,” Kingston said.
Faith has played a large role in Kingston’s life, especially last season. Here are two other takeaways from his appearance on the podcast.
The best part of Parker Kingston’s 2025
Kingston had a big 2025 for the Cougars, leading the team with 928 receiving yards and 67 receptions. His five touchdowns were the second-most among receivers, only trailing Chase Roberts’ six.
But the best part of the year for Kingston came off the field, he said.
After watching his brother go through the temple as he prepared to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Kingston felt inspired to go through the temple himself.
“Once I went through the temple, I was like, ‘Yeah, this is what all, everything I did this year — scoring touchdowns, catching passes — that was the best moment of my 2025 right there.’"
Using prayer to overcome adversity
In the first quarter of BYU’s game against Texas Tech last season, the Cougar defense held the Red Raiders to a three-and-out, forcing a punt on Tech’s first drive.
But Kingston muffed the punt, giving the Red Raiders the ball back, which resulted in a field goal.
Kingston described it as “probably the worst time drop” he had. But it wasn’t the hardest mistake he had to overcome this season, he said.
The hardest, according to Kingston, were his fumbles against Portland State and Stanford in the first two games of the season. The latter resulted in his benching.
Following those fumbles, Kingston turned to God in prayer.
“I just prayed for like an open mind, a clear mind to help me be the best individual and person that I can be on and off the field,” he said. “I pray for that every day, just giving me opportunities to be a light on other people and use my platform to inspire kids. I just kept praying for that open mind, ‘Give me health, give me strength,’ and it came to light.”
Kingston was able to rebound from those mistakes for his best season yet, including three 100-yard games. He will return to BYU for the 2026 season, ready to build off his 2025 success.