Homegrown talent: Logan Thomas' commitment to Angelo State about more than just football

WALL – Logan Thomas always dreamed of playing college football.

Thomas grew up in Wall playing football with the same group of guys from pop warner to high school. He could name everyone who grew up alongside him: Will Scherr, Brylan White, Matthew Steen, Nathan Pepper and Dylan Gidney were the first few that came to mind before rattling off virtually the entire Wall High School football team.

While college football was his dream, he did not want to leave behind the people he said helped inspire him to keep playing the game he loved.

As one of the most accomplished football players in West Texas, Thomas had interest from colleges like Eastern New Mexico and Hardin-Simmons, however, there was one school – right down the road – he kept his eyes on.

“He was very persistent in the recruiting process,” Angelo State coach Jeff Girsch said. “(He) kept up with us, and we with him… (I received) nonstop, and I mean that in a good way, nonstop calls, emails, texts just in regard to him as a young man and his high character.”

BASKETBALL: Wall boys basketball's Augden Hallmark shows up in the clutch in win over Jim Ned

And on Feb. 7 – National Signing Day – Thomas signed to play college football with Angelo State University, the school right down the road, fulfilling his dream to play college football and share his experience with family and friends.

Thomas was a standout player in West Texas for the past two years and he said it only made sense for him to remain in the area and continue playing essentially “in his backyard.”

In 2022, Thomas’ junior season, he earned Defensive Player of the Year for District 2-3A Division II as an off-ball linebacker racking up 85 tackles, 10 tackles for a loss and 6.5 sacks on a Hawk team that won its first outright district championship for the first time since 2019. The next season, Thomas moved to defensive end. He finished the 2023 season with 103 tackles, 26 tackles for a loss, 21 hurries and eight sacks on his way to the district MVP and was named as the Standard-Times Defensive Player of the Year.

“He was always a very unique talent,” Wall coach Craig Slaughter said. “He has a great skill set and tremendous work ethic and is very coachable. We watched him progress from his first year on varsity and he was never overmatched.”

While Thomas’ coaches saw someone who was never overmatched, he confessed that early during his sophomore campaign he was unsure that he could compete at the varsity level, let alone on a college field.

It was not until Wall faced off against eventual state-runners-up Brock in 2021, where Thomas saw the first glimpse at his potential.

“Just me being 15 playing with a bunch of 18-year-olds and being able to compete with them and play on the same field as them and feel comfortable, I felt like ‘yeah, I have something with this,’” Thomas said.

Every year Thomas played varsity football he lined up in a different position. His sophomore season he was a defensive tackle – which he admitted was not his favorite. In his junior year he excelled as a middle linebacker and in his senior season he played defensive end and offensive lineman.

While that much movement would normally be tough on most players, for Thomas, it helped him become a more impactful athlete.

“He provides a lot of flexibility as a player,” Girsch said. “And that’s a good thing because it gets him on the field faster when you can play several different positions… you just turn on the film and watch him play and he plays with great energy, he has a big-time motor and he’s just one of those guys you love to get into your football program because he’s going to be able to fit somewhere on the field.”

And even though Thomas is a high-end athlete with massive potential on the football field, the biggest selling point to Girsch and the rest of the Angelo State football staff was everything they heard about Thomas off the field.

“His coaches couldn’t speak highly enough of him and just about how he was a person and a leader,” Girsch said.

For Thomas, committing to Angelo State was also more than what the program offered him on the football field.

“When coach Girsch sat me and my family down he said everything comes before football,” Thomas said. “(Girsch) really believes in core values and that family, school and religion all come before football, so if I’m not in the right head space or passing my classes, I won’t play football. And that was a big reason why I chose Angelo State.”

This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Logan Thomas commits to Angelo State for football dream