By Eric Uribe

Nevada football head coach Brian Polian knows what an elite college quarterback looks like.

In his coaching odyssey, he’s crossed paths with the likes of Andrew Luck, Johnny Manziel and Brady Quinn.

All prolific passers. All Heisman Trophy winners or finalists. All leaders.

And now, he has Wolf Pack signal caller Cody Fajardo. So how does Fajardo fare against the trio inside the locker room?

Not like Manziel, whose magnetic personality took over rooms, according to Polian.

Rather, Polian likened Fajardo’s leadership style to Luck. Neither are rah-rah guys. Both are assertive when needed. Both exert their leadership in private with players rather than embarrass them in front of teammates.

While players like Brock Hekking, Jonathan McNeal, Bryan Lane and Kyle Roberts have emerged as locker room generals, Fajardo remains the clear-cut guy.

“(Fajardo) understands he’s the senior quarterback, this is his team, and he’s got to make it go,” Polian said after spring football practice last week.

It’s been a long time coming for the 6-foot-2 and 215-pound Fajardo. As a freshman, he was entrenched in a quarterback battle with senior Tyler Lantrip to be the heir to Colin Kaepernick.

Fajardo wound up winning the job midseason. But commanding the huddle at 19 years old wasn’t exactly easy.

“As a freshman, I didn’t talk,” he said. “You have senior linemen, and they look scary as a freshman. Honestly, I just came in, and I just wanted to play first; show what I could do on the field, gain their respect and then be more of a leader. Every year I felt like I became more of a vocal leader, and I’ve taken on a big leadership role.”

Fajardo has proven himself on the field, evidenced by his career marks in passing yards (7,161), passing touchdowns (39), rushing yards (2,436) and rushing scores (31).

Now as a senior, Fajardo has the opportunity to lead Nevada to its first conference championship since 2010 and a return to a bowl game.

Leadership comes down to two traits, according to Polian.

“First thing is the kind of guy who carries himself the way you want others to carry themselves,” Polian said. “A leader doesn’t have to be a rah-rah guy. If he’s doing everything the way you want it done, you can simply point at him and do it that way.”

Fajardo admits he isn’t the in-your-face leader. Instead, he exudes an optimistic, raise-your-spirits personality.

Polian lauded Fajardo’s communication with younger players, and not just inside the football building, but in places like the dorms and dining hall, too.

Fajardo said answering questions of the younger players — specifically of the quarterbacks tasked with replacing him in 2015 — is one of his top leadership tasks.

What’s Polian’s second leadership trait?

“Second step in their evolution is when things aren’t going right, are they waiting for me to stop it and fix it, or do they step up and fix it themselves?” Polian said.

Last season, the recurring problem with the Wolf Pack was second-half meltdowns. The trend reared its ugly head all too often in a 4-8 campaign.

It’s up to Fajardo to buck that trend this upcoming season, which the senior is glass-half-full about.

“I know a lot of times (last year) when things weren’t going right for us, we would kind of fall in the tank,” Fajardo said. “But we got some guys stepping up now and being encouraging and positive when things are going wrong. I think we can pull ourselves out of those situations now.”

Fajardo and company are midway through spring football, which ends April 26. Team captains won’t be selected for another few months, but Fajardo knows the expectations.

“It’s my senior year, and as senior quarterback, you have to take on the leader role,” Fajardo said.

Eric Uribe can be reached at euribe@sagebrush.unr.edu.