Ex-Texas, Nebraska quarterback Casey Thompson opens 2023 season as FAU's starter
BOCA RATON — To no one's surprise, Florida Atlantic head coach Tom Herman announced Tuesday that Casey Thompson will be the starting quarterback heading into the opener on Sept. 2 against Monmouth.
The competition came down between Thompson and junior Daniel Richardson as both alternated lining up with the starters throughout preseason camp. Richardson has been present since the spring portion and has Division I game experience with Central Michigan. But Thompson, who transferred to FAU in the spring, played under Herman at Texas and also played at Nebraska.
“Daniel Richardson certainly didn't do anything wrong per se. Just felt like through two and a half weeks that when Casey is at his best that he gives us the best chance to win every game,” Herman said. “He showed through two and a half weeks that when he's on it, he's really, really good. And we've got to increase his opportunities now these next two weeks to kind of take charge and get a few more reps.”
Even though it was the expected choice from the moment Herman acquired Thompson in May, the Nebraska transfer still wasn’t sure he’d hear his name called to start.
“I think with anything in life you have to earn it and, honestly, what I like about coming here and any quarterback battle I've been in is that nothing is given and everything has to be earned," Thompson said. "And that's something that I respect the coaches for making me earn it. But when I kind of started to build confidence was when we had the two scrimmages. Both scrimmages, I had all touchdowns, no turnovers and took care of the football. That was a really big positive."
Thompson said his biggest goal for the summer was creating a bond between him and his teammates.
“Just to get to know the guys and let the team get to know me and I feel like that's gone well and a lot better recently as practices started," he said. "Training camp is my favorite because we get to be around each other every day. I get to sit down with offense, defense and specialists, just different types of people, just being able to talk to them and hang out and just become one of the guys.”
Thompson said that when he was seeking a new opportunity to play in his last season, FAU was an ideal place to be. He called Herman and the whole staff at FAU reached out to Thompson.
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He told The Palm Beach Post that when he got to campus in the summer, he spoke with Herman and offensive coordinator Charlie Frye for “six or seven hours.” Besides his familiarity with Herman, he said a huge draw was working with Frye, who had coached at different places that connected with Thompson’s past.
“Charlie Frye is what really attracted me to come here, because you look at his history, he worked with Tua (Tagovailoa) and the Dolphins and last year he was with Mike Yurcich, OC at Penn State, who was my offensive coordinator in 2020 [at Texas],” Thompson said. “A lot of people forget that when Coach Frye was with Miami, they ran a lot of NFL concepts that Tua ran in Alabama with Steve Sarkisian, who also was my offensive coordinator in Texas. And so when I come in, I know all of the plays, I know the formations and just from all the different systems that I learned.”
With these different elements in place, Thompson felt comfortable to finish his collegiate career with the Owls.
The Oklahoma City native brings immense talent, experience in big college football programs and a familiarity with Herman. Both were together at the University of Texas from 2018 to 2020 before Herman was relieved of his duties and Thompson transferred to Nebraska.
In his last season with Texas in 2021, he threw for 2,113 yards, 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Last season with the Cornhuskers, he recorded 2,407 passing yards, 17 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.
Thompson expressed that some of his biggest strengths are his athleticism and his football IQ. He even said he utilized the latter to remind coaches of details of different plays since it’s most of the same ones that he’s run in the past.
Thompson coming off December shoulder surgery
He is coming off shoulder surgery in December. He started throwing again in March and he’s at a point where he’s “pain-free.” But he added he still has “a ways to go and I'm not even back to being where I would like to be yet.”
In terms of the team around Thompson, he’s set up for success as it’s filled with explosive receivers such as starter LaJohntay Wester, who’s excited to work with his new quarterback.
“He makes crazy throws. I mean, he's a leader out there,” Wester said. “That's all you can ask for as receivers is having someone leading the ship so I'm very excited to see what he can do for us this year.”
Thompson is very excited about what the offense can accomplish this season, even mentioning players that people might not be talking about.
“We have BJ Alexander, Jayshon Platt, Tony Johnson. Just a lot of different guys. Je’Quan Burton is a really good player. I honestly like where the receiver, tight end, and running back room is,” Thompson said. “What I liked the most about the summer and training camp is just seeing guys make plays.”
Besides the pass-catchers, Thompson went on to praise FAU’s experienced offensive line and a running back room consisting of Larry McCammon, Zuberi Mobley and transfer Kobe Lewis.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Atlantic Owls going with Casey Thompson as starting quarterback
