The secret that’s made Thayer Thomas such a great NC State punt returner for so long
Thayer Thomas hasn’t returned many punts this season, so maybe that’s why it was exciting to see him have some running room against Wake Forest.
He didn’t pick up a ton of yards, but Thomas got to reap the benefits of one of the hardest jobs on the field.
Aside from being one of the top three pass catchers on the team, several times a game Thomas trots on the field and takes his place, 20 yards or so behind his protection.
As the starting punt returner since his redshirt freshman season, Thomas’s job requires him to judge a football that goes sky high — sometimes in the lights, sometimes in the sun (not so much this season) — and make a split-second decision whether he should return it or give the fair-catch signal. If he does wave his hand to indicate a fair catch, he better catch it, or he’s like meat on a bone to 11 guys running down the field full speed.
The job of a punt returner takes guts, skill and lots of concentration, but Thomas has been reliable for N.C. State.
“I think it’s one of the hardest positions to do on the football field,” Thomas said. “It gets overlooked a little bit.”
Thomas added it’s more than just catching the ball and running. Elements play a factor. Last week versus Wake Forest, it was windy, making the ball harder to judge. He fielded punts in games where it was raining, increasing the level of difficulty. Against Florida State, its punter, Alex Mastromanno, rolled to his right and kicked with his right leg, but he also switched it up and did it the other way, throwing Thomas off on occasion. And there’s also the guys on the other team trying to split him in half, running at full speed while a returner has his eyes locked on the ball.
It’s not a job for everyone, but Thomas has embraced his role.
“You have some guts doing it,” Thomas said. “But I think I’m the right guy and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
IMPORTANT TO THE TEAM
It’s a funny story how Thomas ended up as the punt returner.
When he was a walk-on freshman, the former Heritage High School three-sport athlete was trying to find a way to get on the field. At his first college practice, former N.C. State running back/wide receiver Nyheim Hines pulled Thomas aside and told him to come catch punts with him.
Hines, who now plays for the Indianapolis Colts, convinced a coach to let Thomas stay with the punt return group, which included Jaylen Samuels and Jakobi Meyers, like Hines, future NFL guys.
When the coach told Thomas he wasn’t supposed to be over there, Hines said Thomas would be the punt return man of the future for N.C. State. Hines, who has two punt returns for touchdowns in the NFL, wasn’t wrong.
As a redshirt freshman, Thomas was the starting punt returner, taking his first return 40 yards, which set up the first touchdown of the 2018 season. He finished the drive off by catching the touchdown pass from Ryan Finley five plays later.
Since then, Thomas has been setting the Wolfpack up with decent field position, carefully securing the ball instead of letting it bounce and roll for extra yards.
“I think I’ve been pretty consistent with making good decisions,” Thomas said. “But then again, we’re not always perfect, I dropped a few when I was a younger player.”
To avoid many drops, Thomas has a routine during the offseason, when he fields kicks from N.C. State punter Trenton Gill. During the season, he always catches at least 10 punts after practice to remain consistent.
“Just because I know how important it is to our team that I make the decisions and secure the ball,” Thomas said. “It is really hard though.”
His teammates agree.
Zonovan Knight, the starting running back and kick returner, thought he might have a shot at returning punts when he first arrived on campus. Knight, who had a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown last week, quickly realized he wasn’t going to unseat Thomas, and he’s more than happy to let Thomas do the dirty work.
“At this level, you have guys running 4.3s, 4.4s (40-yard dash times) sprinting at you,” Knight said. “I don’t know how Thayer catches it under pressure with guys in his face. I probably would hesitate or something.”
TRUST FROM COACHES
Part of it is muscle memory for Thomas. When the ball comes off the punter’s foot, he’s done this enough times to react properly and go through his routine and field the ball. It goes back to the time he takes after practice, fielding kicks to get comfortable catching the ball out of the air.
But what about when you’re on the road and there are 60,000 fans screaming at you to drop the ball? That’s a little different.
Lucky for Thomas, he has an extra set of eyes and ears to help him out.
Gavin Locklear, a former teammate of Thomas and now a graduate assistant, always positions himself on the sidelines parallel to Thomas before a return.
When the ball is in the air, Locklear yells to the top of his lungs to Thomas, alerting him to fair catch it, return it or let it bounce. On the road, it has helped.
“I can hear him almost every game,” Thomas said. “There’s been times when I couldn’t, but there’s been times when I could hear him and he helps me. He’s a good judge on it, too.”
Ultimately, coaches trust Thomas to make the right call. The field position of the offense depends on it, and Thomas knows not to take too many gambles.
“Based on the amount of times I’ve been back there and the decisions I’ve made in the past,” Thomas explained, “they don’t really have to get in my ear too much about what I should and shouldn’t do.”
This story was originally published November 18, 2021 at 6:30 AM with the headline "The secret that’s made Thayer Thomas such a great NC State punt returner for so long."
