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The Dodge City Community College football program will be looking for a new head coach starting immediately as Coach Gary Thomas has resigned effective Friday November 30. Thomas has decided to pursue other interests outside of football at this point.
Thomas came to Dodge City in 2013 and took over a team that had won only six games in the previous five years. He immediately made an impact on the program as he matched that win total in his first year with a six win and four loss season, he was named the KJCCC Football Coach of the Year for the turnaround. The program went on to win their first conference championship in 30 years in the 2015 season when they had a final record of nine wins and three losses, and Thomas was again tabbed as the Jayhawk Conference Coach of the Year. That season they played in the Salt City Bowl in Hutchinson, KS. He will finish his tenure at Dodge City as the third winningest football coach in Conquistador history with a career record of 33 wins and 33 losses. His teams have re-written much of the record book of Conq Football. Thomas also put an emphasis on the classroom as his teams have had the highest football team GPA in the Jayhawk Conference for the past two years.
Coach Thomas has recruited and coached many high level players at Dodge City. Thomas has coached seven NJCAA All-Americans during his time at the helm of the program. Currently former Conqs Gary Johnson, University of Texas, and Marquis Blair, University of Utah, are having outstanding senior seasons. There are also currently two of Thomas’s former Conq players on NFL rosters and five of his former Conqs have been on NFL rosters. Thomas has also had a former assistant make an NFL staff with Gunnard Twyner currently on the Indianapolis Colts staff.
“It is a tough day for me as an athletic director,” said DCCC athletic director Jacob Ripple. “Coach Thomas has been an outstanding coach for Conq Football and I have developed a very good relationship with him since I took this job. He will not be an easy coach to replace.”
Dodge City Community College will immediately begin a search for a new head football coach. In the meantime, current receivers coach Jamar Johnson will serve as the interim head coach for the Conq Football program.
“We hope to have a new coach in place very soon,” said Ripple. “Timing is important and there are mid-year transfers as well as high school seniors trying to make decisions on their future right now. We don’t want to rush through this process, but we also understand the urgency of getting a new coach in place.”