Tom Herman's Reunion With Old Texas QB Imminent As Casey Thompson Visits FAU

Tom Herman is a head football coach for the first time since 2020 after being hired at FAU back in December and has his eyes on a quarterback for which he is very familiar. Casey Thompson is set to visit Boca Raton next week as he figures out where to play next, and it sounds like they are nearing a reunion.

Roschon Johnson #2 of the Texas Longhorns is congratulated by Casey Thompson #8 and head coach Tom Herman after scoring a touchdown during the Valero Alamo Bowl on December 29, 2020 in San Antonio, Texas.(Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)

Thompson, a former four-star recruit in the Class of 2018, committed to Texas out of high school. Herman was still the head coach of the Longhorns at the time, and the two crossed over for three seasons in Austin.

Thompson redshirted as a freshman, sat behind Sam Ehlinger during his first two seasons with Herman, and initially lost the starting job to Hudson Card in Steve Sarkisian's first year with the program. He was later named the starter in Week 3, went 4-6 in 10 starts at Texas, and then hit the transfer portal at the end of the season when Quinn Ewers committed to play for the Longhorns.

Not long after hitting the portal, Thompson announced that he was going to play for Scott Frost at Nebraska and started all-but two games that he missed with an injury. The Cornhuskers went 4-6 during that stretch and Thompson completed 63.1% of his passes for 2,407 yards and 17 touchdowns with 10 interceptions.

Frost was fired near the end of Thompson's first (and only?) year with the Cornhuskers. Matt Rhule was hired at Nebraska a few weeks later, and Herman was hired at FAU around the same time.

Casey Thompson's future is now up in the air.

Although Thompson was given the opportunity to win the starting job in Lincoln, he missed most of the spring practice period with a shoulder injury. Fortunately, it doesn't look like it will hold him back.

Nebraska has not named a starting quarterback for 2023. Thompson may have earned the job during fall camp after getting healthy. That could still be the case.

It seems unlikely.

Thompson hit the transfer portal after the spring. He will have one year of eligibility remaining— meaning that this fall will be his sixth and final season.

There is a chance that Thompson could return to the Cornhuskers, but the odds are slim. It seems more like a matter of when, not if he will reunite with Herman in Florida.

Thompson visited Auburn last weekend, but it may have been a smoke screen for the Tigers to avoid tampering claims seeing as Hugh Freeze added Payton Thorne on Friday. So what is next?

It is expected that Thompson will visit FAU as soon as Tuesday. From there, the general expectation is that he will commit to the Owls and play his final season of college football for the head coach that recruited him out of high school.

Things could change, and the transfer portal is fluid, but a reunion between Casey Thompson and Tom Herman feels inevitable at this point. When, not if!