Casey Thompson gives thoughtful take on assuming leadership role

Casey Thompson transferred from Texas to Nebraska this offseason and is slotted as the Cornhuskers starting quarterback, replacing outgoing transfer Adrian Martinez (who went to Kansas State.) For Thompson, the change of scenery means more than just a new offense or a different slate of conference opponents, it also presented the challenge of leading a group of unfamiliar teammates.

When asked about this challenge by reporters during fall camp, Thompson had an astute answer. Leadership is something innate, according to Thompson, and something he can do, but there’s a limit to how much a group will listen to a relatively new face.

“It’s a fine line when you come in as a new guy and you also are the quarterback,” Thompson said. “Leadership is something that you either have in you or you don’t. It’s hard to teach someone how to be a leader. And it’s hard to teach someone how to speak and the words to say at the right time. But, I’ve been playing football since I was four-years-old and I’ve been playing quarterback since I was a young kid and I feel like that leadership is kind of an innate quality. But everyday I walk in the building and I want to seem to get better, but I always have to ask myself — I don’t want to step too far over the line, but I don’t want to sit back and do nothing, and say nothing. “

Thompson continued, adding that some of the infrastructure to lead has been put in place and new teammates are helping him acclimate.

“So, I think that the coaches and the team and the players here, we have a unity council, leadership committee on this team,” Thompson said. “It’s composed of offense and defense and we have one specialist on there. I would say that those guys have helped my transition and my leadership really become more comfortable and natural for me. They’ve done a really good job of taking me in and kind of allowing me to lead when I need to lead. And I’m able to sit back and listen to Travis Vokolek and Garrett Nelson and Turner Corcoran and Nick [Henrich] and those guys and I would say that the leadership that we have with the older guys on the team, those guys have been like my best friends and they’ve helped me through everything so far.”

Thompson had pulled the offense together on the field during a rough bit of practice for a pep talk, an early example of what he hopes to provide.

“We’re going to have a lot of adverse moments in the season,” Thompson said, “Today was one of those moments. And this was Day 12. This isn’t the first time Travis and I have had to talk to the offense. This isn’t the first time — even if we’re having a great practice, it’s important to know that you don’t have to have a low point in a practice or a game to talk. So I try to walk around and give guys high fives to the receivers, the offensive line and the running backs and say good job. I would say that really having a positive tone and a positive approach to even just keeping guys up. If we’re doing good, keep going and keep staying positive. But if we’re doing bad, trying to pick each other up. And that’s the hardest, because everyone’s like ‘We’re already getting beat so we’re just going to stay down here.’ But the coaches challenged us today to pick it up and I was challenging each other, as well.”

And Thompson, who spent three seasons with the Longhorns practicing in Texas summers, added that the heat in Lincoln doesn’t faze him, but he gets why some teammates are not fans.

“It was our first practice in the stadium, full pads, right? It’s hot for people in Nebraska,” Thompson said. “At this time last year we were having practices at 115 degrees in Texas heat. So today wasn’t that hot for me, but I also don’t weigh 330 pounds and I’m not a lineman, so I can’t speak for everyone. Today was a little bit of adversity and we have to be able to fight back.”