Inside Northwestern’s RB Room, Trust Starts with a Challenge

Junior running back Caleb Komolafe calls him a “mastermind.”

In little more than a year, Northwestern assistant head coach and running backs coach Aristotle Thompson has helped unlock key performances from his position group – look no further than Komolafe and Joseph Himon II combining for 350 of the Wildcats’ 413 rushing yards in Friday’s win vs. Penn State.

However, it’s the connection that stands out to Komolafe. The type of film study meetings where the Wildcats’ leading back can jump out of his seat and walk through any given play at Walter Athletics Center.

“He does a good job hitting each person's learning style in our room and teaching the playbook, read keys, how things are going to hit, what you should be looking for, how to identify things,” Komolafe said.

The Aristotle Thompson school of philosophy is about throwing down a challenge. Komolafe welcomes it. Thompson said neither Komolafe, Himon nor Florida State transfer Gavin Sawchuk wants to be coddled, an attitude that allows their relationships to pair demanding instruction with support.

“I know what I want my running back room to look like, and I let them tell me what they feel it should look like,” Thompson said. “And nine times out of 10, it's the exact same thing. And so now, when you're on the same wavelength with each other about what you're trying to do, you can push the needle. You can challenge them to be that every single day.

“They're going to challenge me. I'm going to challenge them. So that way, when we get to the meeting room, we're clicking at a high level. When we get to the field, our conversations and adjustments are seamless. It's not, ‘Coach. I don't understand what you're saying.’ They know my verbiage. I know their verbiage. They know my body language. I know their body language.”

Once the gauntlet has been thrown down, Thompson says game-day conversations feel simpler and less emotionally charged.

“It's more conversational,” Thompson said. “If they do something that I don't agree with, we talk about it. If they do something that they know they messed up and I know they messed up, I'm going to get on them because I know they're better than what they showed on that rep.” 

Thompson is in his second year at NU after five seasons at Cal, where his position group stood out annually. He spent more than a decade coaching backs at Cal Poly, where the phrase “West Triple” caught on for a style of offense similar to the limited hybrid wing-t sets introduced by offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.

Introducing those concepts means teaching the whole scope of the play. Thompson wants his backs to understand what everyone on the field is doing, allowing them to move between spots without losing track of their responsibilities.

“We don't just teach, ‘Hey, you're just this one spot,’” Thompson said. “We teach everything that's happening out there.”

For Komolafe, the demands coexist with a room that never loses its personality, in good times or in bad.

“We're a goofy room. Coach A.T. is a funny guy,” Komolafe said. “Everybody has a different personality and brings a little bit of humor, so that's what keeps our room going.”

The laughter does not soften the standard.

“Trusting our keys, trusting what Coach Kelly, what Coach A.T. is saying, believing in each other,” Komolafe said. “Believing in our o-line, and just staying true to not wavering, not riding the highs, and sinking on the lows, just staying level-headed and keep pounding.”