I FIRST HEARD ABOUT COACH ED THOMAS IN 2005. OUR team, the Indianapolis Colts, won its first thirteen games that year and finished 14 and 2, and I was named National Football League Coach of the Year by a number of organizations. That same season, Ed Thomas was named High School Coach of the Year by the NFL. Ed coached at Aplington-Parkersburg High in Parkersburg, Iowa, and over the course of thirty-four years led them to a record of 292 and 84 and two state championships. That is a tremendous accomplishment in itself, but even more remarkable is the fact that from this town of 2,000 people, Ed sent four players to the NFL.
But that’s not why Ed Thomas was selected Coach of the Year in 2005. He was selected because of the impact he had on every young man who played for him. Coach Thomas was an inspiration, a role model to each one of them. Not just the ones who would go on to play college or professional football, but to every single boy who played for him. In this small town, one Sacred Acre was dedicated to the raising and building of young men—and not just to be champions on the field. Yes, that was important. But Ed knew that what happens on Friday night is very much related to what happens on the other nights of the week. He aimed to coach the whole player: body, mind, soul, and spirit. And it didn’t matter if you were a star player or a third-stringer. Everybody was important. No young man was ever a waste of time.
I believe in those things as well, and I tried to coach the same way. However, I believe that Ed Thomas, doing it at the high school level, had an impact that most professional coaches could never have. A professional coach may get more notoriety, but Coach Thomas didn’t just teach the players. He taught the rest of the student body, the faculty and staff, and the parents. He impacted a whole town, and he did it for three generations. In a sport where toughness is valued and coaches are evaluated by their wins and losses, Ed never bought into that value system. Teaching these boys how to become real men was how he always viewed his job.
Ed Thomas was a man who lived the gospel, loved his family, and believed in doing things the right way. He taught his players that there are no shortcuts and that you will ultimately be judged, not by what you did, but on how you did it. He was loved, not just by the people of Parkersburg, but by a nation. So when I heard the news on June 24, 2009, that Ed had been tragically taken from us, my reaction was like that of many others. Shock turned to grief in knowing that my profession had lost one of the truly great men to ever step onto a football field. I was honored to be able to place a phone call to his family and express my condolences. Now, as I have gotten to know his wife and children and been able to speak with some of his former players, my admiration for him has deepened even further.
I never had the privilege of meeting Ed Thomas personally, but I felt like I knew him through some of the men who played for him. The Bible says in Matthew 7:16 that a tree is known by its fruit, and through these players, I have seen the fruit of Ed’s life. His heart, his faith, and his Christian character are evident in so many of them. He was a master seed planter who worked hard to till the soil of his Sacred Acre. I believe that reading this book will give you a better understanding of this special man and the example he left for all of us to follow.