Junior college transfer Thomas finds new home at IU

A middle linebacker has to be able to react to change.

Whether it is recognizing play-action, picking up a screen pass or tackling a juking running back, change is a crucial element to a middle linebacker’s responsibilities.

Jeff Thomas has been the poster child for adapting to change.

The IU junior linebacker went from playing community college football in California last season to leading the Hoosiers in tackles this year.

But leaving the Golden State to come to IU was not always part of the plan for the Millbrae, Calif. native.

“I didn’t even know where I was going at this time last year,” Thomas said. “I was still working on trying to get scholarships and trying to get my grades right, so I had no clue what would be happening for me this year.”

Thomas starred as a fullback all four years at Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, Calif. Although Thomas earned all-county and all-league honors, he did not receive offers from any Division I programs.

Thomas was faced with a dilemma. Should he give up his dream of playing Division I football and get the full college experience at a big university? Or should he keep pursuing the dream and follow whatever road might take him there?

The latter appealed more to Thomas, and he decided to take his talents to Foothill Community College in Los Altos Hills, Calif. But Foothill coach Doug Boyett wanted Thomas to play linebacker instead of his familiar fullback position.

It was Thomas’ first major dose of change as a college athlete.

In his freshman year, Thomas elected to greyshirt to better learn the linebacker position.

“I definitely could have played my freshman year at Foothill, but I just wanted to take the time to actually get the system down, be in the program and get the speed down,” Thomas said.

The move paid off.

By the time he finished his second season at Foothill, Thomas was named the NorCal Conference Defensive Player of the Year and was a First Team All-American. Thomas was rated the fourth-best junior college middle linebacker in America by www.scout.com.

The accolades Thomas received garnered the attention of multiple Division I programs,
including IU.

“Everybody you talked to about him told you how great of a football player he was,” said Mike Yeager, IU linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator. “Fortunately, he came to Indiana.”

Thomas would be going from Foothill’s football stadium — no bigger than a high school field — to IU’s Memorial Stadium, which seats 52,929.

That didn’t faze him.

The California kid enrolled at IU for spring 2010 to get acclimated to life at a Big Ten school.

“Anything I had ever expected, everything I had ever known was California,” Thomas said. “It was a bunch of firsts for me, but I feel like I adapted pretty well.”

That he did.

Thomas totaled nine tackles as a backup in the Hoosiers’ first two games. The coaching staff realized he had to get more playing time.

The coaches moved senior linebacker Leon Beckum to the weak side and inserted Thomas as the starting middle linebacker. Although Thomas was getting starter snaps, he had yet to make that big play as a Hoosier.

Until Oct. 9 at Ohio State, that is.

With the Hoosiers facing a 38-3 deficit against the Buckeyes, Thomas picked off Ohio State backup quarterback Kenny Guiton’s pass for his first Division I interception.

Thomas followed up that performance by recording double-digit tackles in each of the last two weeks. A career-high 13 tackles against Illinois and 10 tackles against Northwestern might have shown that Thomas has found a home away from home as the IU middle linebacker.

“He flies around, he plays hard and plays with great leverage,” Yeager said. “It’s been a great addition to our defense.”

IU coach Bill Lynch believes Thomas’ development has paralleled with the maturation of a defensive unit that had not played many games together.

“There were a lot of pieces that needed to work together,” Lynch said. “So we have gotten better, and Jeff Thomas has been a big part of it.”

The guy that was playing in front of a few hundred people in California is now taking down ball carriers in Big Ten stadiums.

What a difference a year can make.

“Every time I come out here, even when we’re playing at home, I just try to soak it in,” Thomas said. “When I’m on the field, I’m always looking around because it’s so different. I always try to soak in the moment.”