In the orbit of an icon: Ex-Texas Tech teammates share recollections of Zach Thomas

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In the orbit of an icon: Ex-Texas Tech teammates share recollections of Zach Thomas

Don Williams, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal · Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Sun, Jul 30, 2023 ·

10 min read

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On Saturday in Canton, Ohio, Zach Thomas will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, taking his place among the greats of the game. He defied the odds all the way, making first-team All-Pro five times and second-team All-Pro twice after entering the league as a fifth-round draft choice.

Before that, he earned all-America recognition in each of his last two seasons as a Texas Tech linebacker , though he was lightly recruited coming out of Pampa High School in 1992.

Even though Thomas was in the Red Raiders' backyard in the Texas Panhandle, it wasn't a sure thing Texas Tech was going to offer him a scholarship, at least not until Thomas and Pampa played a playoff game in Jones Stadium.

Doyle Parker, Texas Tech assistant coach from 1987-91 and 1993-98:I think up until that night we were watching him out of Spike's office, we'd watched a lot of film and had the same concerns that a lot of other schools must have had, about his size and speed. That was the first that we'd seen him live, and that night watching him live was when the decision was made. Spike (Dykes) said, "It doesn't matter. We're taking that guy."

Thomas never redshirted at Tech, earning regular playing time the second half of the 1992 season. In his true sophomore season, he was the Southwest Conference's fourth-leading tackler and set a bowl record with seven tackles behind the line in a John Hancock Bowl loss to Oklahoma.

Matt DuBuc, Texas Tech running back, letterman from 1993-96:When I knew Zach Thomas was a great player, it was the spring of my freshman year. I was playing running back, and he calls out the formation. Then by formation, he calls out the play. I'm in the backfield going, '(Expletive), he's going to freaking tee off.' He's calling out the play by formation. He literally ripped the jersey off my back, he was in the backfield so fast.

What a football IQ, and then he had the tenacity of a bulldog. He wasn't the smartest guy in the classroom. Football was his Ph.D.

Q&A: Never caught short: Zach Thomas has all the answers when it comes to linebacker play

Texas Tech linebacker Zach Thomas (35) returns an interception during a 1994 season opener against New Mexico at Jones Stadium. The former Red Raiders' All-American will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Aug. 5.

For much of his football career, Thomas was knocked for his unimpressive measurables. At the NFL scouting combine after Thomas's senior season, he was measured at 5-foot-11 and 233 pounds, ran 40 yards in 4.85 seconds and recorded a vertical jump of 28 1/2 inches. He offset his limitations with voracious film and video study and uncommon instincts for his position.

Shawn Banks, Texas Tech letterman from 1992-95, started alongside Thomas at inside linebacker in a 4-4 defense:I'm telling you, in a 20-yard radius, Zach was everywhere. I mean, everywhere. You put him in the middle and draw a circle 20 yards around, he was going to be right there. It was just amazing.

Anthony Armour , Texas Tech linebacker and defensive end who lettered from 1992-93 and 1995-96:Some people said he was undersized, and that could have been true. I really thought he was the perfect size, because he was able to do a lot of things as far as get up under the linemen and not be detected pretty easily. He kind of mastered that.

He leveled the field with his talent as far as being mentally strong and really instinctive. I think that made up for any lack of height or size.

Scott Fitzgerald, Texas Tech center and guard who lettered from 1991-94:It was like hittin' a rock. I mean, you've got that square head. The whole thing is just hard. Back then, Zach was just a huge fill guy, and then you had some of the smaller guys like Anthony Armour and Marcus Coleman and the others that weren't near the size.

Zach didn't have the height. I don't know if that helped him from a leverage standpoint or what, but when he hit you, you knew it. We'll put it that way.

Sharing the credit: Thomas, a College Hall of Famer, says it's all about team to him

The backbone of the Texas Tech defense during the mid-1990s was a linebacker corps that had Thomas and Banks starting on the inside and Robert Johnson and Marcus Coleman on the outside in the 4-4 alignment. Johnson, whose fearless tackling style belied his listed size of 5-11 and 186 pounds, was even more undersized than Thomas.

Johnson, an Estacado graduate and Texas Tech letterman from 1993-96:Back then, we would huddle as a defense. We would hold hands and actually have a huddle, and Zach would call it. I remember I would always have to ask Zach after he made the call, 'Hey, what'd you say?' I wasn't tall enough to hear him, because the defensive line was so big. He would tell me, 'Rob J, scoot over and get to the side so you can hear me.'

Thomas earned unanimous All-America recognition as a senior in 1995. The year before, the United Press International honored him as a first-team all-American, and other selectors made him second-team all-America. That season, Texas Tech demolished Texas 33-9 at Jones Stadium, still the Red Raiders' largest margin of victory in the series.

Thomas lived in a house in west Lubbock that year, and when he had an open room, invited wide receiver Jayson Lavender to move in. Thomas later was in Lavender's wedding.

Lavender:Zach had a really good schedule that semester, and I'll never forget, I'd come home every day. Back then it was VHS. It was back when (Texas coach John) Mackovic was doing all these crazy motions, when he'd do all these shifts and motions and all this stuff. And about Wednesday or Thursday, I'll never forget walking in and Zach goes, 'I got it. I got it.' I was like, 'What do you mean, you've got it?'

He knew when they shifted a certain way, the way they did it, knew exactly where they were going. He would call the plays before they were run. I mean, on video this is happening. Those are things people don't understand was his commitment to off-the-field stuff. His football IQ was unbelievable. He was always around the ball. The reason he was always around the ball was because he'd already played the game before it was played.

Banks, who roomed with Thomas their last three years on road games:That was what we really focused on was watching a lot of film. Back then, everything was VHS tapes. All that's out of style now, but that's all we had back then was VHS tapes, so it was really good to watch film together, because sometimes I would pick up stuff and sometimes he would pick up stuff. We were focused on being as prepared as possible for the game.

Damon Wickware , Tech linebacker and defensive lineman who lettered from 1991-94:I've seen some really big guys that, if you don't know where to be, you're useless. But if you know where to be and how to be there, man, you can cause some problems for people, and that's him. Zach might as well have been in the huddle for the other team, because it's like he knew. He had instincts.

Texas Tech linebacker Zach Thomas was named a first-team all-American by United Press International in 1994 and a unanimous all-American in 1995.

Fitzgerald and Thomas were permanent team captains in 1994, joined by a rotating number of co-captains from week to week.

Fitzgerald:Before the game, we'd go out and he (Thomas) wouldn't talk at all. The officials would be kind of small talk here or there, and I'd more or less get to do the calls — the defending or ball or all that stuff. He was pretty well ready to go and pretty intense.

Jabbar Thomas, Texas Tech starting defensive end in 1994:Zach didn't say a lot. I know people think that Zach was rah-rah-rah, but Zach wasn't that type of guy. He was more focused on his assignment. So he would call the play, and then he would go and get in his position, and he would sit there and wait to see how the offensive formation came out so that he could get an idea what kind of play they were getting ready to run. So Zach did not say a lot.

Tech's conquest of Texas was one of four lopsided victories in a row for the Red Raiders during the second half of the 1994 season. A loss at TCU in the regular-season finale cost Tech the outright Southwest Conference title, and Southern California routed the Red Raiders in the Cotton Bowl.

Nevertheless, expectations were high going into 1995. That August, Tech coach Spike Dykes called the team captains into his office.

Banks:Spike Dykes said, 'We plan on winning maybe eight games or so.' And so after that meeting, we walked out of the office and were like, 'Man, he only gave us eight wins. I think we're going to win all of them.' (Laughs) So we went back in there to talk to Spike Dykes and said, 'Coach, we want to win all the games.' (Laughs) Coach Dykes was like, 'I know, I know, I know.' But I don't think he actually knew how good a football team we actually had.

Texas Tech lost the 1995 season opener at No. 4 Penn State 24-23 and finished 9-3, beating Air Force 55-41 in the Copper Bowl.

Banks:That was really the cap to cement our careers together: Me, Marcus, Zach and Robert Johnson. He let us play the whole game, (defensive coordinator) coach (John) Goodner. He said, 'This is the last time I'm going to get to coach them,' so he let us play the whole game.

The game of the year in 1995 from a Tech standpoint was a 14-7 victory against No. 8 Texas A&M. Thomas intercepted Aggies quarterback Corey Pullig and returned it 25 yards for the winning touchdown with 30 seconds remaining. It snapped A&M's 29-game conference win streak and the Red Raiders' five-game losing streak in the series.

After the game, it was revealed that flu had sidelined Thomas for three days of practice that week.

"I wasn't going to miss a game because of being sick, especially this one," he said in a United Press International game story.

Verone McKinley, Texas Tech defensive back who lettered from 1992-95:I think actually on that interception play, I believe he was supposed to have been blitzing, and for him to have the wherewithal to understand what's going on in a certain situation and to drop into his zone and pick that ball off, that's what Zach does. He gets it.

Armour:Obviously, that was the best play of the season that year that we were able to enjoy. I think that pretty much solidified his position as the best linebacker in Tech history next to E.J. (Holub).

Banks:It was a great play, and we tackled him in the end zone. It was like, finally, we got 'em. When we got back to the locker room, coach Dykes was really excited. He really wanted to beat A&M.

Texas Tech fans crowd around Red Raiders linebacker Zach Thomas (35) during a preseason autograph session in August 1995.

Damon Wickware was 6-3, 220 pounds as a senior at Hurst Bell, and Texas Tech signed him to play safety. He likes to say he ate his way into being a defensive tackle, starting there for the Red Raiders after he grew to be 296. On the way, he made stops at linebacker and defensive end.

Wickware:I remember being in the linebackers' meeting room (in 1992), because I had been moved to linebacker, and I'd never played linebacker. I didn't understand any of that terminology. And in walked two freshmen, Anthony Armour and Zach Thomas, and I thought, 'Man, these guys must be good to be in the varsity meeting room at the beginning of the season and we hadn't even done anything.'

I remember him (Thomas) diagnosing stuff that coach (John Paul) Young was saying, and coach Young, he might as well have been talking Chinese. ... Unless you had played that position forever, it didn't make any sense. But when that boy came in, he knew his stuff — as a true freshman. It was impressive.

By the time they were upperclassmen, Wickware had a locker next to Thomas and a starting spot on the defensive line. With a hand on the back and some words of instruction pre-snap, Thomas would coordinate their movements.

Wickware:He would let us know which way he's going or he'd let us know which way I need to go a lot of times. Especially when it was short-yardage situations, because when he's coming, he's coming full speed, so if you're there, you're going to get hit in the back. If you're not there, be ready because he's either going to blow it up or he's going to cause them (the ball carrier) to jump outside your way or jump inside your way.

Yeah, I got many hits in the back, because if I didn't move my guy and he was hitting that hole, guess what: We're all going down.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame's class of 2023 was revealed on Feb. 9. Thomas, elected in his 10th year of eligibility and after his fourth straight year as a finalist, is part of a nine-man class. It'll be a milestone birthday gift of sorts for Thomas, who turns 50 on Sept. 1.

A number of his former Tech teammates are planning to make the trip to Canton for the induction.

Banks:When he was inducted into the Red Raider Hall of Honor, we celebrated that. Everybody came back down there for that, and I said, 'You've only got one more left,' which we were talking about the NFL Hall of Fame.

Lavender:When this thing came around every year, I would be so mad when they wouldn't pick him. And he would talk with such humility, like, 'Man, there's guys that are better than me. There's guys that deserve it.' I was like, 'Heck no, Zach. You deserve it, man.'

But he never wavered in that mindset. It's crazy to me how he approached this Hall of Fame thing as a complete, 100% professional.

Parker:So happy for him that he's getting this honor — way past due, in my opinion, but glad it finally happened for him. He's sure deserving. Just an overachiever — he and Wes Welker, people like that, that nobody thought they had a chance to do what they did in the NFL. It's just a great tribute to him.

Robert Johnson:I know he was elated. He deserves all of it, because of everything he's put into the game. He's always been a natural leader, has always tried to do things right. I'm super proud of him.

Wickware:I got hit in the back so many times with him pushing the pile forward, I think I can attribute my backaches to him now. But you know what? It was all worth it, getting to see where he is now. I am so proud of that guy. I am one of his biggest supporters, because he did it the right way.

Linebacker Zach Thomas, pictured during his Texas Tech career from 1992-95.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Former Texas Tech teammates share recollections of Zach Thomas

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