Tech’s Thomas enters year as Heisman Trophy candidate

Justin Thomas is not just the baby of his family.

He’s not just a four-star recruit or a dual-threat quarterback.

Thomas is now that dude who can be hundreds of miles away from home or college on a family vacation and have someone recognize him in a crowd.

“We were in Gatlinburg and we were standing in line for a go cart,” said Thomas’ sister, Paige Torian. “Just out of the blue, this guy standing in line, he just kept staring. We knew eventually, he was going to be like, ‘I know who you are.’ He had his phone and everything prepared. It was to the full extent that Justin was his background on his Facebook page.”

He’s no longer under the radar. Justin Thomas is now a Heisman Trophy candidate who has put Georgia Tech back on national map with his playmaking ability, intellect, leadership skills and will to win.

“He’s the best playmaker at Georgia Tech since Calvin Johnson,” said Baltimore Ravens undrafted rookie safety Nick Perry, who like Thomas starred at Prattville High School. “And you can quote me on that.”

Truth be told, Thomas has always been something special going as far back as T-ball when a local league changed the rules because he was too fast.

“Growing up, I was always confident in my game no matter what level it was,” Thomas said. “I felt like once I step between the lines, I’m ready to go and I feel like I’m the best player on the field.”

So for those who watched the Montgomery native grow up and aren’t surprised by how he warps past linebackers like Quicksilver.

They’ve seen that before.

“He was the scout team quarterback in ninth grade and was giving us fits at age 13 or 14,” Perry said.

Year later, Thomas is giving college teams nightmares.

“He can still run around people and makes the same plays in high school he did in college,” said Perry, who started at safety at Alabama. “It’s just crazy how he just took it to another level or another gear.”

The 5-foot-11, 189-pound dynamo begins his junior season Thursday against defending SWAC champion Alcorn State looking to lead Georgia Tech to a national championship.

“That’s what everybody should play for,” Thomas said. “We’re going out there to play every game and win every game. If we win every game, we can talk about that once we get there.”

Family matters

Thomas led Prattville to the 2011 Class 6A state title and won the 4A-6A 100-meter dash the following spring. Through all the wins and achievements, Thomas was raised in a family that preached humility.

“He doesn’t let it get to him,” Torian said. “I’ve always told him that although you may get all the attention, don’t let it go to your head because the next game, you don’t know what could happen.”

So Thomas doesn’t spend too much time swimming in his pool of success that runs rather deep.

“He’s pretty critical of himself,” Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said.

Even hearing Heisman and his name in the same sentence doesn’t turn him on.

“Truthfully, it’s a great honor to be mentioned, but you can’t really worry about it,” Thomas said.

Besides, Thomas can’t boast too much because it’s debatable on whether he’s even the best athlete in the family that has four siblings – Krissy, Blake, Paige and Justin.

“We all excelled at sports,” Torian proudly and playfully said. “He’s the one who got the most opportunities to play, but I would say top the two would be both of my brothers. Neck and neck. My older brother got hurt his senior year. He couldn’t go to the next level.”

It’s all love in the Thomas family – and that means everything to the youngest.

“Whenever he gets an off weekend, he’s at home,” Mr. Thomas said. “He comes home whenever they have a break. On a Friday afternoon, he’s on the road after workouts. He comes to get away.”

Nationally known

Thomas redshirted his first year at Tech and played behind Vad Lee in 2013 before exploding onto the national scene last season. Thomas threw for 1,719 yards and 18 touchdowns to only six interceptions and ran for 1,086 yards and eight touchdowns in leading Tech to an 11-3 record.

“He’s a player that defies convention with the way he plays and is able to make a difference,” Tech senior guard Trey Braun said. “He understands the offense intimately and knows exactly what to do.”

The Jackets went 7-6, 7-7, 8-5 and 6-7 the previous four seasons before Thomas became the starter.

“He got better every game last year,” Johnson said. “He was like our football team. Early in the year, he was OK. He's always had a good skill set. You can't teach fast and quick. He's got a quick release. He's competitive. As he got more comfortable, he made more plays.”

Thomas capped the season with an MVP performance in Tech’s 49-34 Orange Bowl win over Mississippi State. Just as he terrorized defenses playing for the Montgomery Seminoles under his dad back in the day, Thomas ran for 121 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 125 yards and a score against what was once the nation’s top-ranked team.

“That guy there is an athlete,” Mississippi State senior defensive end Ryan Brown said. “I like the way he plays.”

Thomas not only put up huge numbers that night in Miami, he controlled the pace of the game and executed the offense to near perfection as Tech rushed for 452 yards in the double-digit victory.

“He’s as good of a quarterback I’ve seen in that system,” Alcorn State coach Jay Hopson said. “Really a playmaker. Just dynamic.”

As good as Thomas played, his junior high coach, Derrick Moncrief, said his best is yet to come.

“The offense he runs now doesn’t show the true Justin Thomas and what he can do,” Moncrief said. “The scouts are going to be amazed by how he can throw the ball. He’s very coachable so when he gets to that next level and somebody is able to train him, they’re going to have another Russell Wilson.”

More than just an athlete

Tech’s fantastic finish came after a cruel 37-35 loss to then unbeaten Florida State in the ACC title game.

Down a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, Tech had the defending national champions on the ropes, but Thomas threw an incomplete pass to Darren Waller on 4th-and-5 near midfield.

Waller ran the wrong route, but Thomas was criticized for the overthrown. Then Thomas was intercepted on Tech’s next series.

“With stuff like Florida State, as the quarterback and the leader, that stuff always gets attributed to him where he deserved it or not,” Tech senior guard Trey Braun said.

Less than a month later, Thomas bounced back and led Tech to its first Orange Bowl win in 63 years.

“It was great to just go out there and play the way we did,” Thomas said. “To play with a team of that caliber when people didn’t give us a chance, we know we can play with anybody on any day.”

Thomas isn’t just a gifted athlete. The 2014 second-team All-ACC selection thinks the game as evidence by how he thrives at making split-second decisions running the triple option.

“You have to be smart at the position his plays in the offense that he runs,” Torian said. “It’s his ability to be able to think quickly on his feet. If he needs to change the play and opt out of a play to another play, he has that ability. Through all his experiences, he has that ability to see things happen before they do.”

Could have been

Highly recruited coming out of Prattville, Thomas had offers from Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Florida State, Mississippi State and many more. Once a verbal recruit at Alabama, Thomas was uncertain about how his career could unfold there, but he might have been Blake Sims before Sims set records last season in leading the Crimson Tide to an SEC title and top seed in the College Football Playoff.

“They never came out and straight up said they wanted me to play another position,” Thomas said. “They always said I could play quarterback, but if it doesn’t work out, they’d change my position. Whatever they had in store for me when I got there, I’m really not sure.”

Three of the last four teams to play for a national championship all envisioned Thomas in their plans and that includes that school out west that produced the 2014 Heisman winner.

“(Chip Kelly) put us on speaker phone with the whole coaching staff,” said Mr. Thomas about the former Oregon coach who’s now with the Philadelphia Eagles. “He said, ‘We got (Marcus) Mariota. He’s pretty good, but he doesn’t have experience you have.’ He said his highlight reel is not even close to yours. He said, ‘Can you imagine running a 4.4 and having the ability to throw what you could do in our system?’”

Thomas went a different direction. Three years later, the Jackets are serious ACC and national title contenders with Thomas being a major reason they’re in this position.

“He has them believing they can win,” Mr. Thomas said.

Truth be told, that’s how it’s always been for Thomas. All he’s ever done is won. So it’ll be nothing new if that continues this season.