THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Thomas on destiny, aliens and Vandal football, past and present

More than two decades later, talk of Idaho’s version of “The Catch” randomly pops up down on the Bayou.

Joel Thomas rushed for school records of 3,929 yards and 51 touchdowns during his Idaho Vandals football career (1993-98), which lasted six seasons because of a redshirt year and a medical redshirt year.

But it was the catch the running back made out in the left flat and took into the end zone for a two-point conversion in overtime to beat Boise State 36-35 in November 1998 at Bronco Stadium in Boise — a reception that propelled the Vandals to their first bowl game in school history.

“I’m glad I caught it,” Thomas recalled with a laugh last week, when he was in Coeur d’Alene to be inducted into the Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame. “That’s like one of those things, on Cobra Kai, does that change your destiny? Am I Johnny Lawrence or am I Ralph Macchio (from the “Karate Kid”)? Which one am I?

“Fortunately I caught it, and it was a great experience, and I’ll never forget it.”

THE FOLLOWING month, also in Bronco Stadium, Thomas and the Vandals beat Southern Mississippi 42-35 in the Humanitarian Bowl.

“I loved playing in that stadium as a player; I had a pretty good record there (vs. Boise State), and put up a lot of yards on ’em.”

As Vandal fans remember, those were the glory days against the then-rival Broncos, when Idaho won 12 straight from Boise State from 1982-93, and 15 of 17 from ‘82 to ‘98.

Boise State of course, dominated after that, winning 12 straight starting in 1999. And the two teams haven’t met since the Broncos’ final win in the series, in 2010 in Moscow.

As running backs coach of the New Orleans Saints since 2015, Thomas sometimes brings up when Idaho dominated Boise State to former Broncos players on the Saints’ roster …

“And they don’t get it,” he said, because they’re not old enough to remember when Idaho was winning those games.

“It’s more the old heads, when you run into them; they try to (be like), ‘We’re Boise now.’ ‘Naw, you weren’t Boise when we played y’all. You were a different team.’ Put ’em in their place.”

IN HIS job with the Saints, Thomas coaches All-Pro running back Alvin Kamara.

How do you coach a special player like that?

“I recognize that he’s on the all-alien team … it’s more perfecting the craft,’ Thomas said. “You’re trying to identify weaknesses, or things that might be exploited that other people study, and switch up tendencies. That’s what coaching the position is. You’re still motivating, you’re still instructing, you’re still installing, and you’re still dealing with human behavior. You’re always on point; something may be off; ‘Hey, what’s up?’ You’re not just a coach; you try to be a mentor and all that stuff.”

Then there’s Taysom Hill, former star at Highland High in Pocatello, who was a change-of-pace quarterback in New Orleans but now, under new head coach Dennis Allen, is being moved to tight end.

“It’s a collective effort on how he’s used,” Thomas said. “Particularly before, he played quarterback, now that he’s going to be brought back to more of a tight end, move guy, I’m sure we’ll still exploit the things that he does. Because he’s a special athlete as well. He’s strong as heck now; and he can run.”

THOMAS WAS running backs coach and co-offensive coordinator at Idaho in 2004 and ‘05, under head coach Nick Holt.

While in Idaho recently, Thomas visited Moscow and was invited to speak to the Vandals football team during spring practice.

Thomas has known first-year Idaho coach Jason Eck for more than two decades. When Thomas began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Purdue, Eck was a GA at Wisconsin.

“And we used to work these camps, to earn an extra 300 bucks here and there, and that’s how we met,” Thomas said.

A few years later, Eck was the Vandals’ offensive line coach the same two seasons Thomas was an assistant at Idaho. And Eck was a Vandal assistant for one more season, in 2006.

When the Vandal football job came open following last season, Thomas also expressed interest.

“Every time it’s come up,” Thomas said. “It’s my alma mater; I’ve always been interested. Unfortunately it didn’t work out … but they’re in great hands with Eck, and he’s going to do a great job, in my opinion.”

Why?

“I believe that — I don’t believe, I know — he (Eck) knows what it takes to win at this FCS level,” Thomas said. “He’s been in it; he’s done it at a high level. And, also, recruit. He’s done that at South Dakota State (where Eck was an assistant the past six seasons). And he’s also been here under coach (Dennis) Erickson, and with Nick. So he understands the lay of the land with alumni, the boosters, the players that thrive here as well — as far as getting into western Washington, I think that’s huge.”

Thomas came to Idaho from Port Angeles High, in western Washington.

“I saw that there isn’t a scholarship player from west of the mountains on the roster right now, which blows my mind, because all the good teams that I played on, myself included, we had a significant number of kids from that side,” Thomas said. “So, I think he’s got a good blueprint to work off of, obviously the proof’s in getting Ws. I don’t know if it’s going to be a quick fix, I think he’s going to do it correctly and not have guys that are there that are looking to get out. They’re going to be guys that want to stay there, be part of the foundation, be part of the turnaround.

“And he cares about those players; he’s going to be behind them all the way, and they’re going to want to play for him; that’s the main deal.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.