Johnny is McCool.
In fact, he's Johnny McCool Caspers. McCool is Caspers' middle name, and it seems appropriate considering his measured approach to pressure. The fifth-year senior plays right guard on the Stanford football team and has taken on the role of elder statesman on the offensive line that has keyed a late-season resurgence.
This is not trivial. The offensive line provides Stanford with its identity. Physical play, power football … it all begins with Caspers and his linemates. As the line goes, so does Stanford. When the line struggled, Stanford dropped three of four.
As for McCool …
"McCool is my mom's maiden name," said Caspers, from Glen Ellyn, Illinois. "Me and my brother and a couple of cousins were all given McCool as our middle name.
"It is kind of a curious name. It's funny, people will see it on Facebook and think it's made-up. I'm like, how much of an idiot do you think I am? I would be so ticked off for someone doing that. How pretentious. So, once people figure out that is my real name, they think, that's awesome."
Caspers holds a unique place on the Stanford team. He is the link between greats like David Yankey and Cameron Fleming and the next generation, like freshman left guard Nate Herbig, whom he coined "Big Island."
For the record, Caspers, who really doesn't need a nickname, was christened "Chicago Scrap," by former teammate Conor McFadden.
Caspers -- a captain along with Christian McCaffrey, Solomon Thomas, Peter Kalambayi and Dallas Lloyd -- takes his mentor role seriously.
"So much of my success is because of those guys and because of the culture that has been built in the offensive line room," Caspers said. It was their work ethic and daily approach during practice or even just a conditioning drill.
They "instilled some positive habits in me," he said. "Those guys showed me how to work at the college level."
Caspers arrived at Stanford in 2012 with the greatest offensive line class in school history: Caspers, Nick Davidson, Brandon Fanaika, Joshua Garnett, Kyle Murphy, Andrus Peat, and Graham Shuler. Six of the seven have started on the offensive line, and Garnett, Peat, and Murphy are playing in the NFL -- Garnett and Peat were first-round draft picks.
Caspers and Fanaika are the remaining members of that class and hold the responsibility of maintaining those high standards. They really don't have a choice. Stanford is a power-running team. As great at Christian McCaffrey and Bryce Love are, their play hinges on that line.
Being a physical team "is defined by a group of guys who are going to show up, get their jobs done, and they're going to do it in a physical nature," Caspers said. "They're going to execute and they're not going to say much about it.
"That's one of the great things about this place, it's got guys who put work in front of what they say. That's a trait, being able to approach this game like that every day.
"The desire to work and to put forth a great effort is something I love and want to continue in my life, and I hope I've emulated that to these younger guys."
David Shaw, Stanford's Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football, appreciates the influence of Caspers.
"When people talk to me about recruiting and what's the most important thing, the most important thing for me is mentality," Shaw said. "Johnny Caspers is the same every single day. Very serious approach. Very matter-of-fact about getting his job done and being a great communicator, being a lead-by-example type of guy. He's a guy the coaches and his teammates can count on every single week.
"His mentality and approach to the game is one of those stabilizing factors on this team when things don't go well. He's one of those guys you count on to come in and say, 'OK, here's what we're going to do. We're not going to panic, there's not going to be any dissension here. We're going to go back to doing the things we know we're supposed to do.' So even before the coaches get to everybody, there are guys like Johnny Caspers setting the table for the coaches."
When Caspers is done with football, he has interests that may make an impact on a larger scale. He is earning his master's degree in earth systems and is known for summer research work on worm composting of horse manure.
"The worms," he said with a laugh. "These will follow me for the rest of my life."
His focus is food and agriculture. "The excess use of synthetic fertilizers," Caspers said. "I wanted to broaden my knowledge to see how these fertilizers, nutrients, and additives affect aquatic systems."
Caspers lamented the fertilizer run-off in the Mississippi River, and how the waste produced by cattle-feeding operations are affecting not only the river itself, but the health of the Gulf of Mexico.
"That was mainly what I wanted to gain, having a better understanding of the processes and side effects of our agriculture system," Caspers said.
When Caspers is gone next season, someone else must grab the torch. But for now, Caspers embraces that role, of keeping his teammates accountable with that cool demeanor.
"The model works and doesn't need much changing," Caspers said. "As long as I can get that through to the next group, my job will be done. My career here will be successful."
