Spring Insider: Q&A with Coach Troy Thomas

One-on-one with Servite coach Troy Thomas:

Question: Tell me about your team.
Troy Thomas: We have two returning starters on the defensive line and two linebackers that started for us. And then we have three returning secondary guys. We think they’re fast. It’s going to be our the biggest offensive line. Our receiving core will be the fasted we’ve had. And I feel real good about Greg Portis and Bijon Samoodi taking some carries.

Q: What are your spring goals?
TT: The biggest thing we’re trying to accomplish is to teach their attitude and effort. We’re coaching some football, some Xs and Os, but it’s hard to play football without the pads on. We try as much as we can, but football is played with pads on.

Q: Do you feel like you have your work cut out for you, given all that you lost?
TT: I don’t know, I’m excited about the opportunity. I think the guys are excited about the opportunity to prove themselves and show that the program is going to do well even though some of the big name guys are gone. I think that’s the sign of a good program, that you can replace some of the guys that leave. Every year there’s a new group of guys that step up and lead the program.

Q: Your teams have won at least a share of the league title three consecutive years, but people still view you guys as an underdog in the Trinity League.
TT: I’m sure they will. And I don’t have a problem with that. If I was on the outside, I would probably think the same thing.

Q: Because of that, what is your objective?
TT: We always have the same goals. We kind of live by a code and it doesn’t change from year to year, game to game. This is how we want to be as people and as football players. The first thing is love your teammates. We believe in it. I think it starts there, caring about your brothers. Even our name, Servite Friars, (means) to serve your brothers. I think we try to live that every single day, as coaches, as players, as brothers here at Servite.

Every man on the team has a job and a responsibility, so every man does their job. Play as hard as you can, do your job to the best of your ability. If you’re a 4.5 guy or a 300-pound bench guy or whatever it is, just do that. If you’re a 5.0 in the 40 and you bench 150 pounds, we want you to do that. We just want you to play as hard as you can play, individually. And if every guy does his job and to the best of his ability, we feel like we’ll be successful.

And the last part we believe in is being physical. And a lot of people assume that’s just on the football field, but we believe you can be physical off the field by your words and your actions. Maybe an example for these kids is if their friends are choosing to do something wrong and they just turn the other way and don’t do anything. That’s not being physical. When an opportunity arises, you need to step up and say something. So not only on the field are we trying to be as physical as we can when we get there, but off the field, to represent the program and the name Servite in a positive way.

Q: What are your plans for defensive back/receiver Bijon Samoodi?
TT: I think he’ll play all over the place. And he did last year. We started using him more on offense toward the end of the year. But he’s had a good offseason -- ran track, lifted real hard -- so I expect big things form him. We’re probably going to move him to the safety spot, get him a little more involved defensively. Offensively, he’ll play slot, running back, he’ll be that single receiver sometimes. He’ll be more like what (D.J.) Shoemate was like his sophomore year. D.J. did play in the backfield but mostly he was moved around as a receiver. We did a lot of different things with him and kept Ray Rangel in the backfield. I think Greg Portis is going to play back there and get the majority of the carries. But Bijon will come in the backfield and Greg will move out. We’re going to play with those two guys kind if like we did last year with D.J. and Greg.

Q: Do you know where your leadership is going to come from this year?
TT: It always comes from our senior class. Next year’s student body president, Josh Gaston, is a football player. We have a priority system where nine guys run the school. And the one guy in charge is Josh Gaston and there’s eight guys that are under him that run the school, basically. And six of the nine are football players. So our leadership this year, I feel very good about. They’re doing it off the field. They’re doing it away from football — spiritually, academically. These kids are the leaders of the school and they just happen to be football players.

Gaston is a returning starter, a defensive end. He was our 189 (pound) wrestler. He played lacrosse, football, and wrestled as a sophomore.

Q: Who is going to be your quarterback?
TT: We have a competition. We had two guys last year that competed on the JV squad. Cody (Fajardo) won the job last year as a sophomore. But I believe in competition, so right now it’s up in the air. Chris Leachman and Cody Fajardo are the top two. They both have improved dramatically. I’m going to let it play out and see who gets it done.

Contact the writer: amaya@ocregister.com