A key aspect within any coaching success is having quality relationships with the players.
Kentucky wide receivers coach Lamar Thomas is abiding by this premise…even if its with a player on another team. And by player, it’s Heisman Trophy front-runner Lamar Jackson.
Thomas had been a coach with Louisville before leaving this past offseason for Lexington. While he’s coaching for a rival in-state school, he’s still maintaining a weekly relationship with Louisville’s star signal-caller.
As he told the Courier-Journal, he routinely checks in on his former players. The act of maintaining mentorships goes beyond the arena of competition for Thomas:
“It doesn’t stop just because I went to another school. If it does stop, then I’m fake. I genuinely care for those kids, and they feel the same way. You build relationships with these kids that hopefully can be lifelong bonds. These are guys that I went into their homes, and I still have parents that I still talk to even though I’m not at their schools who ask about their kids. When I think about coaching, that’s how I want to be remembered to these kids, somebody they can look up to as a mentor.”
