CHICO — Brian Thomas was a pitcher for the Chico State baseball team in the early 2000s, spent 14 seasons as an assistant coach at Butte College, two seasons at Orland High School as an assistant coach and more than 10 years coaching in the Chico Nuts American Legion baseball organization.
Now Thomas’ dream of becoming a head coach for a high school program has finally come to fruition, as he has been named the head baseball coach at Chico High School.
“The first thing that comes to mind is amazing,” Thomas said when asked to describe the feeling. “Chico High has always been on a very short list for something that I wanted to do. I know how much history the school has, how old it is and how much it means to the community to coach at Chico High. When I was playing ball at Chico State, I’d look across the street and our field you can throw a ball and hit the other one. It was something I always had my eye on and something I always wanted to do. Great things fell into place and now I’m here.”
When asked about the ultimate goal while taking over the Panthers’ baseball program, Thomas said he wants to have a successful program, and was honest when saying winning is important. However he said what’s more important is that the student athletes learn how to be good young men in society.
“Personality characteristics, responsibility, accountability, those are always at the front of the line for me, but I also think wins come because you have those attributes,” Thomas said. “The goal is for these guys to become productive members of our community. One day they’re going to graduate and own businesses and all those different things and we want to make sure they’re good people first. That’s my main goal, and then obviously win every single game we possibly can.”
Thomas said he first envisioned himself becoming a coach his freshman year of high school at 14 years old. The coach invited the team to his house, and didn’t speak a word about baseball. Nothing about how to field a ground ball, nothing about how to prepare for high school baseball, nothing about fitness. Instead, he talked about making good decisions academically and as a human being. His mindset was to create good mindsets in kids, and Thomas knew at that time he hoped he could one day do that himself. Thomas claims that if players don’t know him, he doesn’t know them and there isn’t a bond between them, why should a player trust him to coach them or teach them?
Thomas was also asked about the Pleasant Valley/Chico High rivalry and what it means to him. He said he loves it, from both a player and a coach’s standpoint. Thomas grew up in Los Angeles and had a rivalry between West LA and North LA, but said it wasn’t quite as intense as the one between the two Chico schools.
“Our goal is to win league, and to be able to do that we’re going to have to take care of business, but that includes PV right in the mix,” Thomas said. “When that rivalry goes out it’s cool to have bragging rights amongst friends and coaches. It’d be nice to have that ammunition on that side in the coaching circle.”
Thomas praised several of the baseball mentors he’s been fortunate to have, including Butte College baseball coach Anthony Ferro, Chico State baseball coach Dave Taylor, head of the Chico Nuts organization Tom Stevens, former Chico State baseball coach Lindsay Meggs and the most recent head coach at Chico High for the past two seasons, Ludwig.
“All these people have had an intricate part on helping me on my journey,” Thomas said. “(Ludwig) has left our program in a really good spot and my goal is to continue what he’s established and keep moving forward and grow. ”
In addition to coaching the baseball team, Thomas is also teaching full time at Chico High School as an education specialist — working in the special education department. Thomas initially planned to become a physical education teacher, but after having some students with special needs come through his classes at Butte College he, “understood that I could be better suited to help that population and I really enjoyed working with them.”
Thomas said there is a big benefit of him being a teacher on campus, enabling him to do things like grade checks and the ability to check on students throughout the day.
“I want to be able to form those relationships where we can talk about anything, because my whole goal is to create characteristics in our young men,” Thomas said.
Chico High kicks off its season in early march. Thomas is currently assembling his staff from the varsity level down to the JV and freshman level. He has named Tom Miles and Daniel Walsh as assistant coaches. Walsh graduated Chico High in 2016 and went on to play at Western Carolina.
Thomas said he will continue his role with the Chico Nuts over the summers, but wants to make it clear to both the Panthers players and parents that Chico High is his first priority.
“The one thing I want to make sure all my players here at Chico know and the parents in my program know, is that I am a Chico High Panther. This is the most important thing for me,” Thomas said. “If kids play in different programs, I don’t want them to feel any pressure to play for me in the summer if that’s not going to be the best for them. If playing for another program is the best for them, I want the best for them. I’ll celebrate that, no judgment whatsoever. It’s all about what you do while you’re here and in front of us as a coaching staff.”
