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Football: A special find – UL hopes Thomas can help extend tradition at DB + Cajuns TV Schedule

Tim Buckley, Daily Advertiser, August 8, 2013

UL cornerback Simeon Thomas participates in practice Thursday morning at the UL practice field.

UL cornerback Simeon Thomas participates in practice Thursday morning at the UL practice field. / Leslie Westbrook/lwestbrook@theadvertiser.com

Late into the recruiting process, Simeon Thomas held a bona fide offer from Florida State.

The product of the Miami area’s Carol City High initially had committed to Florida International, but that changed after Panthers head coach Mario Cristobal – now Alabama’s offensive line coach – was surprisingly fired early last December.

Syracuse wound up in the mix, and others too.

But FSU was where so many figured he’d go.

Then the NCAA’s national signing day arrived early last February, and Thomas – ranked the nation’s No. 40 safety prospect by Scout.com – surprised them all by picking UL.

And here he is now, six months later, late in the first week of preseason training camp with the Ragin’ Cajuns, vying for playing time at cornerback and hoping dearly he’s not red-shirted in 2013.

“It’s real important to me,” Thomas said of contributing right away.

He may just get his wish, too.

“There’s a chance,” UL head coach Mark Hudspeth said early this week. “I don’t know how early. But I definitely think he has the skill set to push himself into the depth chart before the season’s over.

“I’ve already penciled him on a few special teams,” Hudspeth added, “just for the fact that I think he’s gonna make a run at some playing time. I’m not saying he’s gonna start, but he’s definitely got the skill set to help us this year.”

It’s one reason among many Thomas wound up at UL, not FSU, which sought a commitment sooner than he was prepared to make one.

Hudspeth’s late push sealed the deal for Thomas, who said he decided for sure on the Cajuns about 30 minutes before signing time arrived.

“When I first came to visit,” he said, “I had a good bond with the players and I knew something special was going on in this program. There’s something special there, and you should want to be part of something special.”

Hudspeth reminded Thomas of that as the clock wound down.

“He was like, ‘Before you sign, think about all your choices. Think about what you saw on your visit. Think about what you’ve seen all your visits,’ ” Thomas said. “I was like, ‘Alright.’ ”

Decision made – even though he already had kin at FSU.

“My mom wanted me to take that route with them, but it’s better to be different,” Thomas said. “That’s one of the things I wanted to do – be different. Build up another program. Have a name at another program.”

Friends and family, Thomas said, reacted with “shock” when his pick was made public.

“Mostly everybody in the crowd, they had on Florida State gear,” he said.

“I like Florida State. Don’t get me wrong about none of that. I still respect them. But I just wanted to do something else at another program.”

That it happens to be one with a rich history of producing pro players out of the secondary didn’t hurt.

UL’s long list of defensive backs who’ve made it to NFL includes – but isn’t limited to – Todd Scott with several teams starting in the early 1990s; Orlando Thomas with Minnesota from 1995-2001; Kyries Hebert, now with Montreal in the CFL, with Cincinnati in 2008-09; C.C. Brown, who started with Houston in 2005; Pittsburgh’s Ike Taylor, Chicago’s Charles Tillman, Tampa Bay’s Michael Adams and, the latest to arrive, 2012 Detroit draft-pick Bill Bentley.

Bentley just happens to hail, like Simeon Thomas, from South Florida. The two spoke recently.

“He told me about some of the adversity he went through,” Thomas said, “but (said) it was all gonna pay off once you’re here.”

That validated the choice.

“When I first looked at (UL),” Thomas said, “it was like, ‘It’s a DB school. It’s the perfect fit. I could be one of those guys that leaves a legacy here.’ ”

When he’ll start on it remains to be seen.

But odds, at least for now, seem to favor sooner over later.

UL is seeking to replace both of its 2012 starting cornerbacks, Melvin White, currently in Carolina’s NFL camp as an undrafted free agent, and Jemarlous Moten.

Two Mississippi junior-college transfers, Cedrick Tillman and Corey Trim, are in line for the jobs, as are returning Sean Thomas and Jevante Watson.

But right behind, his highly regarded Florida high school football resume in hand, is Thomas.

“The opportunity’s there,” the lanky Thomas said. “That’s the first thing (new UL defensive coordinator James Willis) told me when I walked in the door. He said, ‘Opportunity’s here. It’s yours to take it. The cornerback position is wide open.’ He said, ‘Just lock in and focus,’ and I’ll be alright.”

“He’s definitely a football player. He’s raw. He needs to get stronger. But he’s knowledgeable of the game,” Cajuns secondary coach Tim Rebowe added. “He’s very, very coachable, and you just love kids like that that want to absorb everything you tell them. He’s picked up the defense. He knows what he’s doing, and right now we can put him in there and feel like he’s gonna make some plays.”

Before that, though, Thomas had to add to weight to a frame listed at 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds when he signed.

Hudspeth said the freshman gained 18 pounds, all via UL’s summer strength-and-conditioning program.

“Hopefully he can continue to do that as the season goes along,” Hudspeth said.

Even at 180, though, the Cajun coach sensed what he had.

“If you give them the eyeball test,” Hudspeth said of his 2013 true freshmen, “Simeon Thomas is a guy that could come in and help us out in the secondary as a freshman.”

Since camp opened this week, little’s changed.

Because as much as Hudspeth would like to stash Thomas for a season, buying time for the body to catch up with the game, he knows when someone who can help.

“I would like to (red-shirt him),” Hudspeth said, “but after seeing what he can do, if he can just maintain his weight – that’s gonna be (key). He’s a little thin. … But he sure is long and rangy, and can cover a lot of ground.

“We’re still trying to get him caught up. You know, he’s still a freshman, and he’s a long ways from home, so we’re trying to get him acclimated, we’re trying to get him caught up, trying to put weight on him,” the Cajun coach said. “He won’t be ready to help us early – but I think as the season goes along he could. … Who knows what might happen?”

Ragin’ Cajun Network slate includes road game

The UL Ragin’ Cajuns Network will televise three football games in 2013, including its first-ever road game on Dec. 7 at South Alabama, increasing the number of televised UL football games this season to 10.
The three RCN games this year will be the Oct. 5 meeting with Sun Belt newcomer Texas State, the Nov. 2 homecoming matchup with New Mexico State and the regular season ending game at South Alabama.
UL’s TV schedule now includes:
Aug. 31: at Arkansas (FSN)
Sept. 7: at Kansas State (Fox Sports 1)
Sept. 14: Nicholls State (ESPN3)
Oct. 5: Texas State (RCN/Cox 4)
Oct. 15: at WKU (ESPN2)
Oct. 22: at Arkansas State (ESPN2)
Nov. 2: New Mexico State (RCN/Cox 4)
Nov. 7: Troy (ESPNU)
Nov. 30: ULM (CST/ESPN3)
Dec. 7: at South Alabama