Scout This

By: Devan Thompkins

When you first come to college, especially at USC, the first thing you think about is playing under the lights in the Coliseum. The fireworks going off. Running out of the tunnel with your teammates. The roar from the crowd that you can feel from your head to your toes. Stepping on the field while the clock is counting down. Hitting someone. Making an impact for your team.

Despite having played only one season of high school football, when I found out I wouldn’t be doing any of those things I had dreamed about during my freshman year, I was frustrated. Frustrated that I wasn’t going to be traveling with the team, frustrated that I wasn’t going to be playing in games. 

At that point, I was still really self-conscious about how few years of football I’d played compared to everyone else. I played a few years of Pop Warner as a kid, but really my focus was on basketball until senior year of high school. When I transferred to a new high school though, my mom finally convinced me to give football a second chance. 

Now, I think it's safe to say I made the right athletic decision, and I never hear the end of it from my older brother. But when I first got here, I wasn't so sure. Especially when I got that first scout team assignment. I had to mature and realize that no one is at their full potential, no matter how long they’ve been playing. I’m not trying to catch up to where they are, I’m just trying to be the best player I can be. I’m trying to get better each and every day.

Scout team is the perfect place to do just that. 

When I look back now, that time I spent on the scout team was the best thing that could have happened to me as a football player. Off the field, too. 

I talked to my coaches, my teammates and I had to just be real with myself. I didn’t want to sit around and mope and be sad, and I definitely didn't want to just be handed a starting role without having earned it. I had to focus on what I could control. I had to get better. 

For anyone who might not know, scout team basically plays the role of upcoming opponents in practice so that starters and rotation players can get reps and practice against the opposing team’s schemes and high-impact players. For anyone starting out their college career, or anyone who hasn’t quite been able to break into the rotation or earn a starting spot though, it’s also the perfect place to get better.

Once I came to that realization, I couldn’t let this opportunity pass me by. I had to work. On the field, in the weight room, in the meeting room. Every day. Breathe, eat, drink, football. Repeat.

My freshman year Caleb Williams won the Heisman Trophy. We were one of the best offenses in college football. Like I said, the perfect opportunity to get better as a defensive lineman. I approached my time on scout team as an opportunity and used it as fuel to get better. 

Being the competitor that I am, I took the whole thing really seriously. I wanted to give our guys looks and help the team, and in doing so I was also getting better.

Throughout that year and following the season, guys like Brett Neilon and Justin Dedich would let me know how important my role on scout team was. Coach Riley has told me on multiple occasions that our scout team defensive line helped Caleb win the Heisman. 

My role on the scout team was more important than I thought. Still, I knew I wasn’t where I wanted to be. I don’t want anything handed to me in life or on the football field, so I worked. And I worked. And I worked.

I’ve always had that drive. It’s just a part of who I am. As confident as I am, I know I’m nowhere near perfection. I want to be coached hard, I want to work hard and I want to keep pushing myself so I never have the feeling of being assigned to the scout team again. That same motivation extends to how I see myself as a leader on the team and how I want to push my teammates. 

I’ve shared my experience on the scout team with the guys. How it really is an opportunity, not a setback. And I intend to share that same thing again this year, specifically with any guys who may be feeling down when they get that assignment. 

Everyone has the same opportunity, but you have to reach out and take it. 

I want every player on our team to be the best version of themselves because I know what it’s like to be at the bottom and feel like you’re not good enough. It hits different when you get that accountability from a teammate and not just from your coaches. Embodying that championship culture and player-driven discipline is part of my path to become the player that I can be and the leader that I can be. I won’t let anyone on my team regress. I always want to see the best.

Everyone has the same opportunity to impact the team, which means that everyone has the same responsibility to give their all for this team everyday. We’re all in this together, chasing our dreams, chasing that victorious feeling. Whether you’re a multi-year starter or on the scout team. You just have to keep getting better. You have to view each day as the opportunity that it is. I would know. I did.