There is no chance Dymonte Thomas will change his mind and swap college football teams.
Thomas, a 6-foot-2, 192-pound senior from Marlington High School, has long been committed to the University of Michigan.
His journey to the Wolverines will not end today with the Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio.
It really is just beginning.
Being selected to play in the game is an honor that few high school seniors across the country get. The game will be nationally televised on NBC (WKYC Channel 3).
But Thomas has enough credits to graduate early from Marlington, and he will enroll later this month at Michigan and take part in spring football with the Wolverines. That means Thomas, regarded as one of the most athletic football players to come out of Stark County, has to fine tune his game.
Thomas doesn’t sound like a high school senior. In San Antonio, he has been working with coaches for the last week on finer parts of the game. It isn’t just about blocking and tackling.
“I’ve been working on covering quicker and shiftier wide receivers and backs out of the backfield,” Thomas said. “Sometimes, I give them too much space and I need to work on my quickness and my hips more.”
Those are things Thomas never really worried about at Marlington. He was usually the best player on the field.
This week, he has practiced against players who are every bit as athletic, if not more, than he is.
“Yeah, those are things I never thought about for two years,” Thomas said. “I just came up and hit people, or I ran them down and tackled them. God has blessed me with a talent, and I play to do the best I can to use it.”
Thomas is playing free safety for the East team in the All-American Bowl. At Marlington, he played all over the field — running back, receiver, quarterback, linebacker, defensive end and defensive back.
Michigan landed Thomas when he was a junior. He is a big catch for the Wolverines, particularly since they came into Ohio State recruiting territory and landed one of the state’s best players.
Massillon wide receiver Gareon Conley was a Michigan commitment and planned to go to Ann Arbor with Thomas. However, Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer continued to recruit Conley and got him to flip.
There wasn’t a chance of that happening with Thomas. And Thomas’ cousin is OSU and former GlenOak running back Bri’onte Dunn.
“I’m a firm commitment for Michigan,” Thomas said, laughing. “There won’t be any surprises coming from me.”
Thomas said only recently did he start thinking about improving the finer points of his game, things such as coverage skills out of the backfield, opening his hips and reading offensive keys.
“As you get a little older, you get a little wiser about the game,” Thomas said. “I’m going against really good competition here and it makes you realize just how much more work you have to do to make it. They have helped me define what I need to work on.”
