Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 23, 1992 TAG: 9201230035
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
KICKER TO LEAVE HOKIES
When Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer demoted place-kicker Mickey Thomas to second string last August, Thomas said, "I'll be back."In fact, he won't.
The Dublin native, who is the ninth-leading scorer in Tech history, said Wednesday that he will not return for his senior season. Instead, he said, he will try to graduate this summer or fall.
Thomas made 21 of 25 field-goal attempts as a redshirt freshman in 1989, including six against Vanderbilt - an NCAA game record for a freshman. He made 10 of 16 field-goal attempts in 1990 and made all 29 extra-point attempts, part of a streak of 43.
He lost his job before last season to redshirt freshman Ryan Williams, who made four of seven field-goal tries and 34 of 36 extra-point attempts. At the time, Beamer said Thomas had been slumping; Thomas didn't criticize Beamer for his decision but protested the reason.
"I felt like nothing was wrong with me," Thomas said, adding that Williams' strong leg overshadowed Thomas' accurate one.
"When he came here, he was the future. When you're trying to compete and you know the coaches are leaning in that direction, it's hard to compete. When I came into it [in the fall], I knew I was fighting an uphill battle. I was in a bad situation. Like the Rolling Stones, [between] a rock and a hard place."
Beamer could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The coach supported Williams even when the kicker missed three of his first four field-goal attempts. Thomas said he figured if Williams slumped, Beamer would change kickers. It didn't happen.
"I don't have any bitter feelings toward that," he said. "I felt like [my career] shouldn't have ended the way it ended, but that's the way the ball bounces.
"They don't play the past, they play the future."
Until Williams beat him out, Thomas was carrying on a Dublin tradition at Tech. He had succeeded Chris Kinzer, another Pulaski County High School graduate. Thomas scored 137 points in his Tech career and holds school records for most kicking points in a game (18 against Vanderbilt) and most field goals attempted and made in a game (six, against Vanderbilt).
Thomas said he hopes to land a high-school coaching job after graduating from Tech with a long-term goal of entering athletic administration.