Miami Hurricanes WR Jeff Thomas ready to seize opportunity to be great player

Miami Hurricanes rising junior wide receiver Jeff Thomas is ready to seize the opportunities he has to become a great player. Thomas has been welcomed back to the Miami football team after not playing in the last two games of 2018.

Jeff Thomas was kicked off the Miami Hurricanes football team or left via mutual decision with the previous offensive staff led by former head coach Mark Richt. When Richt suddenly retired in December and replaced by defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, Thomas got a second chance.

Thomas was off the team after Miami broke a four-game losing streak at Virginia Tech. He broke out of a slump with stellar performances against the Hokies with 110 all-purpose yards and the game before with 151 all-purpose yards in a loss at Georgia Tech. Thomas led Miami with 35 receptions and 563 yards in 2018.

Miami was able to get by Pittsburgh in their first game without Thomas. A dominant defensive performance led the Hurricanes to a 24-3 victory over the ACC Coastal Division champion Panthers. The Miami offense was inept in a 34-3 loss to Wisconsin in the Pinstripe Bowl.

The Hurricanes offense needs all the playmakers it can have in 2019. Thomas will be Miami’s biggest threat on the perimeter. Bringing him back with some stipulations on his behavior and responsibility to the Miami football team was the right move by Diaz. Thomas discussed how Thomas’ return was facilitated.

Diaz made the first move by calling Thomas and telling him he “still had a spot (on the Miami football team). Thomas discussed how his return has been with his teammates and how he is ready to take seize the opportunities he has going forward in the Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

"“Everybody’s having fun and everybody’s coming together as a team again…I wanted to take that advantage again like I did my freshman year when they offered me in the first place. I wanted to keep that tradition going…I just wanted to seize the opportunity. To just finish what I started,’I made a commitment that I was going to come here my freshman year. I just wanted things to be great again…Everybody messes up. Everybody’s not perfect. So, you just have to fix that and that’s what he told me he was going to do.Everybody showed me love like I never left…It felt good. I’m responding really well. I’m taking coaching every day, fixing my mistakes on and off the field so I could be a great player.’"

Thomas, graduate transfer K.J. Osborn and rising Junior Mike Harley are expected to be the starting wide receivers for Miami in 2019. Osborn gives the Hurricanes an experienced wide receiver. The Miami Hurricanes wide receivers corps behind Osborn, Harley and is made up of Freshmen and Sophomores.

Thomas has grown up a lot in the offseason. He is poised for a big year in 2019 and ready to become a leader of the young wide receivers behind him. Thomas is Miami’s most explosive player on offense. When he has the ball in his hands good things usually happen. Thomas has the potential to score on every play.

The East St. Louis Flyer alum is a multi-dimensional player that can return punts and kickoffs, has the potential to be an exceptional receiver and occasionally be used on running plays.

Thomas was on pace to break the Miami records for receiving yards and all-purpose yards in a season after the first few games in 2018. He has the ability to sustain that pace and make a run for those records in 2019.