QB's defining moment came early
High school coach says he knew he had a leader when a sick Thompson refused to go home from practice

By George Schroeder

Published: October 4, 2006

LEANDER, Texas — Steve Gideon pulled his quarterback aside. The kid had been sick all week long, but vomiting on the practice field was too much.

"Go home," the coach told Paul Thompson, excusing the senior from practice despite the importance of that week's game against a traditional district powerhouse.

But Thompson refused.

"Coach, I need to be a leader on this team," Thompson told him.

And that, said Gideon, is when he knew Thompson was a keeper.

"That was a confirming moment as to what the kid was all about," Gideon said.

Five years later, Gideon has moved up from quarterbacks coach to head coach at Leander High School. Thompson has moved to Oklahoma; on Saturday, he'll start at quarterback for the Sooners against local favorite Texas.

In the five years since Thompson moved across the Red River to Oklahoma, much has changed in his hometown, a rapidly growing bedroom community about 25 miles northwest of Austin.

A new high school has been added to the district; another will open in 2008. The road signs which show Leander's population as 22,379 are horribly outdated — as evidenced by the maddening traffic on Highway 183, the main conduit into the capital city.

Think Edmond on steroids.

"Every time I go back, I forget how to get home," said Thompson, "because you've got new highways and new roads all over the place."

In the halls of 2,100-student Leander High, a new batch of students probably doesn't know much about the former Lions quarterback whose photograph hangs on the wall outside the football coaches' offices.

But coaches and teachers said Thompson left behind an indelible impression: A quiet leader. A blue-collar worker. Uncommon maturity. You know, all the things you've heard about Thompson since his arrival at OU.

"Everybody is discovering these new things about Paul," said Leander offensive coordinator L.D. Williams, "things we've known for a long time."

• "He just had a great presence about him," said Linda Major, the director of Leander High's theater program.

• "There was a presence whenever he walked in, because of the way he carried himself," said Paul Tarwater, who taught government and economics when Thompson was in school.

• "He wasn't gonna be the one that grabbed the microphone at the pep rally," said Williams said. "But he was the guy that everybody watched what he did, and followed him."

This is why many who've known him forever have closely followed Thompson's college career. And why they're hoping he succeeds — even this week, when he faces their team.

"Everybody you talk to wants Paul to do well," said Williams. "They don't want the (Texas) victory to come at Paul's expense."

Williams, by the way, doesn't want a Texas victory at all. Originally from Chickasha, his small office is plastered with newspaper clippings that show his allegiance to the Sooners. His cell phone is crimson,with the OU logo. Although he said Texas' recent success has been tough to take — and he's taken plenty of razzing from the rest of the football staff — Williams has persevered.

"It's hard for me to hide my pride," Williams said.

And for Williams and others, it's harder to hide their pride in Thompson.

Major has taught theater at Leander for 25 years. She struggles to remember the names of productions from five years back, but has no trouble remembering the hot-shot quarterback who took her class as an elective two years running. She said Thompson possessed "great characterization" skills, and had "a physicality about him that really just captured attention." He played leading roles in several in-class productions. He always knew his lines, always smiled, and could have gone a long way in acting.

"He was really talented, and really good," Major said. "He was very comfortable on stage. But I knew where his heart was."

That would be just around the corner and down the hall, where the Leander football coaches are headquartered.

Gideon arrived at Leander just in time for Thompson's senior year. Brought in as quarterbacks coach, he helped install a spread offense that fit Thompson's skill set.

"He had a dynamite arm and a quick delivery," Gideon said. "He passed the look test and all the physical characteristics."

Gideon said Thompson routinely arrived early for daily 7 a.m. quarterback meetings. He was always prepared. And, as evidenced when Thompson practiced through illness before the Lions played Hays Consolidated, he was dedicated.

A sign in Gideon's office says: "Watch your character. It becomes your destiny." On another wall, scribbled near the top of a white board, is Thompson's cell number.

"Paul fit the mold perfectly," Gideon said. "You knew whatever he did in life, he was gonna be successful. The leadership just oozed out of him."

Thompson chose Oklahoma over Texas because the Sooners wanted him to play quarterback, while the Longhorns suggested he try wide receiver. But last fall, after starting in the season-opening loss to TCU, he was replaced by Rhett Bomar, and then moved to receiver.

Some kids would have been bitter. Mark Thompson said his son was angry, but was "100 percent committed" to becoming the Sooners' best receiver.

Gideon remembers a conversation with Paul Thompson last fall, after the switch.

"He said, ‘That's who I am,'" Gideon said. "‘I'm a receiver. That's what I do. I'm gonna be the very best I can be.'"

Which brings us to the sudden reversal last August, when Bomar's dismissal prompted OU coach Bob Stoops to ask Thompson to consider returning to quarterback.

Thompson called his father that morning, then called again that afternoon. The Thompsons pondered their options. At receiver, Paul might have more of a shot at the NFL. Was this a good move? That evening, Paul called once more, to say he had agreed to return to quarterback. Not that anyone back home was really surprised.

"You make a decision within the organization about what's best for the team, and then Paul is gonna make the best of it," Gideon said.

Which brings us back to this week, and the big game in the Cotton Bowl. Tarwater is a Texas A&M graduate, so he wouldn't mind an OU win. But plenty of Texas fans walk the halls of Leander High.

"A few will be conflicted," Tarwater said. "But I don't think anybody would be saddened by Paul having success."