http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/dolphins/dolphins-draftee-and-ex-kansas-state-running-back-1473685.htmlLooking back, Kansas State offensive coordinator Dana Dimel is thankful that schools such as Florida and Oklahoma recruited Daniel Thomas as a safety instead of as a running back.
"We don't often get kids who get recruited by those schools," Dimel said. "Putting him at running back is obviously what helped us get him."
No one involved has any regrets, least of all the Dolphins, who made the two-time Big 12 rushing leader their second-round pick in the NFL Draft. With Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams at the end of their contracts, Thomas could be Miami's No. 1 back this season.
"It's a great fit," Dimel said. "Everybody down there is going to like him."
Donald Walker, who coached Thomas in high school in the North Florida town of Hilliard, echoed that sentiment.
"He's just as advertised: Super humble, and he plays the game the right way," Walker said. "If anybody is going to make it happen down there, it's Daniel."
Thomas, a bruising 6-foot-2, 228 pounds, finished third in the country last season in carries (296) and seventh in yards (1,585) and tied for fourth in touchdowns (19).
"I'd give him 10, 11, 12 carries in the first quarter every game, and that dictated how defenses would play us the rest of the way," Dimel said. "Durability was never an issue."
Walker had the same thing in mind when he put Thomas at quarterback as a senior. He had played that position as an underclassman as well as wide receiver and running back.
"Our best opportunity to win was to put the ball in his hands as much as possible," Walker said. "Both running and throwing, he didn't disappoint me."
Thomas' first love was basketball . But during his junior year of high school, his father sat him down for a talk.
"Hilliard was known for football, not basketball, and I told him that would be his best vehicle to get to college," said Gerald Thomas, pastor of the Elm Grove Baptist Church in Meridian, Ga.
By the end of Thomas' senior season, coaches such as Florida's Urban Meyer were poised to offer Thomas a scholarship, but he didn't have the grades to qualify.
"Some people focus on certain things and have trouble focusing on others," Gerald Thomas said. "Daniel focused on athletics. His mother and I were relentless that he needed to do better."
His best option was to attend junior college, and he was invited to Northwest Mississippi Community College for a two-week tryout. After one week, his father got a call from coach Randy Pippin.
"He said, 'Pastor Thomas, I want to thank you for the gift you gave me,' " Thomas said, laughing.
Northwest Mississippi strength coach Danny Ray Cole said Thomas was singular among the players he has worked with in 22 years at the school.
"I've never run across another kid who, once he sets his mind to something, would follow through every single time," Cole said.
"We played our games on Thursday nights, so on Wednesdays, we would have a walk-through and then the guys would go about their business. But every Wednesday evening, Daniel would be waiting on me at the weight room for another workout."
After rushing for 1,118 yards and 13 touchdowns while splitting his time between running back and quarterback at NW Mississippi, Thomas again was heavily recruited - Oklahoma, LSU, Mississippi and Kansas State were among his suitors.
But Thomas still didn't qualify academically. After spending time at Butler CC and Manhattan Christian College, both in Kansas, he still needed to pass an extension course in algebra from BYU to be able to play in 2009.
"It was the hardest course I've ever taken," Thomas said. It took three tries, but he ultimately passed the final to qualify at K-State.
"I told him, 'You can handle it; you just have to put your mind to it,' " Gerald Thomas said.
Thomas started the 2009 opener and rushed for 104 yards against Massachusetts. Soon he was taking over games, putting up five 100-yard games, topped by 185 yards in a 17-10 win over Kansas.
"After my first game," he said, "I thought, 'Maybe I can do this week in and week out.' I wasn't surprised."
"He's become a complete player," Kansas State coach LHC Bill Snyder told The Florida Times-Union last fall. "He has tremendous toughness, the ability to stay on his feet, good change of direction and good vision."
Thomas led the Big 12 in rushing with 1,265 yards as a junior, then repeated the feat with 1,585 yards last season. In two seasons, he rushed for more than 100 yards 12 times, had 30 touchdowns and averaged 5.2 yards per carry.
At season's end, Thomas signed with Boca Raton-based Impact Sports. He spent the weeks and months leading up to the draft training in South Florida and clearly impressed the Dolphins when they had him in for a pre-draft workout.
"We prayed as a family for the best fit for Daniel, and when the Dolphins came up, it seemed right," Gerald Thomas said. "He told me one day he was riding by the stadium and he looked over and thought, 'What if I got a chance to play for the Dolphins? Wouldn't that be awesome?' It's a wonderful thing for our family."
