Michigan State Target: Colton Thomasson, the Gentle Giant
Michigan State 2023 target, Colton Thomasson, received his very first offer from Michigan State on August, 19.
“Coach Kap (Chris Kapilovic, offensive line coach) is a really cool guy. He asked me how many offers I had and I said, ‘I have zero.’ Then he said, ‘well, now you have one.’ He looked at my Twitter, which was a huge factor for my decision, and how I improved from last year to this year,” Thomasson said.
While this is Thomasson’s first offer, the offensive tackle joined Smithson Valley high school’s varsity team as a freshman.
“I went from eight-grade where I was bigger than everybody and throwing people around, to Texas varsity football, 6A, which is out high classification in Texas, there were some dudes where I had to work on my speed and technique.”
Having the level of skill Thomasson has, he didn’t think Michigan State was going to give him an offer.
“I had no offers, and they are a big power five; Michigan State, ‘Go Green,’ it’s cool. I didn’t think they were going to pull a kid with no offers.”
At 6-7, 330-pounds, you wouldn’t think the offensive tackle would be nicknamed the ‘gentle giant’.
“If you know me as a person, I’m very friendly. I try to be nice to everybody because you never know who it could impact,” Thomasson said.
It’s a different story on the field.
“On the field, there’s a switch. If I’m going up against you, even if we’re best friends, off the field that’s fine, but on the field that’s a completely different story. For those 48-minutes that we play, it’s me versus you, and one of us has to eat.”
In seeing how his coaches at Smithson Valley have impacted him, Thomasson aspires to be a coach to carry on to younger generations what his coaches have done for him.
“Last year and even this year, I had the opportunity of coaching the middle school athletes a little bit. I see the way they listen and light up when they do it right after I tell them; it’s something that feels good in my heart, so I want to keep doing that,” Thomasson said.
Growing up with the coaching environment, especially with his dad being a coach, adds an extra element to why Thomasson wants to pursue that path.
“Even if I could impact one kid’s life if I were to coach, then my job would be complete.”
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