Nick McLaughlin carries the ball during the University of Maine football team’s Jeff Cole Memorial Spring Game. McLaughlin, a Cape Elizabeth graduate, moving from wide receiver to running back this season.   Photo by Anthony DelMonaco courtesy UMaine

ORONO — Here’s the first and most important thing you need to know about Cape Elizabeth’s Nick Laughlin and his role with the University of Maine football team. When you bring up his name to his teammates or coaches, the first thing they do is smile.

“I love Nick. He’s a great guy. He’s one of my good friends on the team,” said quarterback Carter Peevy. “We can use him as a receiver, a running back, he’s got a wide range of skills, which is really going to help us. He’s from Maine. He loves this state. He loves this team. I’m really glad we’ve got him here.”

A redshirt sophomore, Laughlin is changing positions for the Black Bears, moving to running back after starting his college career at wide receiver. The Jeff Cole Memorial Spring Game, played Saturday in a driving rainstorm at Alfond Stadium, was the first chance to see Laughlin at work in his new position.

Talking about that makes everyone around the Black Bears smile even more.

“Nick is going to be a stud,” said offensive coordinator Mikahael Waters. “He was already a stud last year for us and made some big-time plays. We’re just trying a way to get him the ball as much as we can.”

As a freshman, Laughlin’s 22 catches were third on the team, and he had 186 yards and a touchdown. He also had three carries, including a 5-yard run at Oklahoma for the first touchdown of his career. Maine coach Jordan Stevens said he considered moving Laughlin to running back when he played the position on the scout team while redshirting during his first year with the program. Now that Laughlin has bulked up from 5 foot 8, 185 pounds he was when he arrived on campus to a solid 5-10, 210 while maintaining his quickness, the move was obvious, Stevens said.

“He’s just really consistent. He’s just been a steady guy. That’s what he is. He’s low maintenance,” Stevens said.

Nick Laughlin was used at a number of offensive positions while at Cape Elizabeth, as coach Sean Green moved him around to make it more difficult for defenses to key on him. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald

Laughlin compared his new role with Maine to the role he played at Cape Elizabeth, where coach Sean Green lined him up in a variety of spots to keep defenses guessing. That Laughlin was going to get the ball was obvious, but how? As a junior, he helped the Capers win the Class C state championship. The following season, Laughlin was a finalist for the Fitzpatrick Trophy, given to the top senior in the state.

Now, it’s just getting up to speed on the nuances of playing running back instead of wideout, Laughlin said.

“The biggest thing for me is knowledge of the game. Reading the defenses. Especially now, playing running back, focusing more on the blocking schemes and where the defenses is going to go,” he said.

In Saturday’s rain, Laughlin was able to showcase his skills. He had some carries. He caught some passes. He showed a connection with Peevy and an ability to make tacklers miss. That’s his greatest strength as a running back, said Laughlin’s coaches. He’s a Weeble. He gets hit and wobbles, but the first hit is rarely going to take him down. It’s called contact balance, and maybe it’s his background from playing hockey and lacrosse as well as football, but Laughlin has plenty of it.

“A huge part of that is mentality, and I think he definitely has that,” said running backs coach Pushaun Brown, who led the Black Bears in rushing as a player in 2010 and 2011. “He plays the game the right way.”

Laughlin is playing with confidence, Waters said. Peevy can’t wait to see his friend in game action in the fall. The Black Bears open the season August 30 at Liberty.

“I can’t tell you exactly how we’re going to use him this season, but if it’s anything like the spring, he’s going to line up in several spots,” Peevy said.

Early last season, Stevens awarded Laughlin a full scholarship. Laughlin remembers being called into Stevens’ office a few days after the season-opening win over Colgate to get the news.

“I wasn’t sure if I was in trouble,” Laughlin said.

Laughlin wasn’t in trouble. He was just getting started.