Ex-Texas football QB Casey Thompson re-joining Tom Herman at FAU?

One of the biggest names among quarterbacks to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal during the spring window is the former Texas football starting signal caller Casey Thompson. The former Texas and Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback and grad transfer put his name in the portal after essentially getting beat out by the former Georgia Tech transfer Jeff Sims in the QB battle in Lincoln this spring.

Thompson was Nebraska’s starting quarterback last season under former head coach Scott Frost and then interim head coach Mickey Joseph. Frost was let go after starting the regular season with a record of 1-2. But Thompson remained the starting quarterback for the Huskers for the remainder of the regular season, at least when he was healthy.

But following the departure of Frost and then Joseph early this offseason, Nebraska made the move to hire the former Carolina Panthers and Baylor Bears head coach Matt Rhule. And Rhule found a better fit in the transfer portal at the quarterback position this offseason in Sims than the fifth-year senior Thompson.

Thus, Thompson put his name in the transfer portal on April 28, with one year of eligibility remaining at his next stop.

Tom Herman and FAU could land former Texas football and Nebraska transfer QB Casey Thompson

And it looks as if Thompson has now found his next home out of the portal this offseason with a familiar head coach from his time with the Longhorns. The Omaha World-Herald reported on May 5 that Thompson is visiting former Texas head coach Tom Herman and the Florida Atlantic Owls this weekend. It specifically mentions that Thompson is “nearing a reunion” with Herman at FAU.

This report from the Omaha World-Herald mentions that Thompson was Herman’s first recruit that he got to commit at the quarterback position as Texas’ head coach back in 2017. The relationship between Herman and Thompson goes back a long way, so this fit makes sense for the to-be sixth-year quarterback and the former Texas skipper.

Thompson committed to FAU on May 5 over other presumed potential destinations out of the portal this spring, namely the Auburn Tigers. He visited Auburn last week, and that was assumed to be the top possible destination for Thompson at the time.

But Auburn wound up taking a portal commitment from the former Michigan State Spartans senior quarterback Payton Thorne this week.

Thompson is the second former Texas transfer quarterback to commit to Herman and the Longhorns out of the portal this offseason. Herman and the Owls also landed a commitment from the former Texas walk-on quarterback Ben Ballard a few months ago.

Heading into the fall, Thompson will be the presumed favorite to win the starting quarterback job over the former Central Michigan Chippewas junior transfer Daniel Richardson.

Thompson spent four years at Texas and one at Nebraska before entering the transfer portal for the second time in as many offseasons this spring. He registered more than 4,800 career passing yards at Texas and Nebraska, 47 passing touchdowns, 19 interceptions, nearly 200 rushing yards, and 10 rushing scores.