GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Virginia Tech quarterback Logan Thomas will likely leave Blacksburg as one of the most successful -- if not the most successful -- quarterbacks in Hokie history. Stats-wise, anyway.
But that’s not good enough for Thomas. The redshirt senior did not come to Virginia Tech to settle for setting records. He wants to do what every great Virginia Tech quarterback did before him: win an ACC Championship.
He can’t do it on his own, though. And he knows that now, entering his final season, more than he ever has before. He can only control what he can control, as the old football adage goes, and he can control how he approaches each game. And that’s it.
“For me to feel good about what I did at Tech, I’ve just got to go and give it my all every game. If we’re 6-6 or if we’re 13-0, I’ve got to be happy with how I approached every single day and if I gave it my all,” Thomas said. “If my all was 6-6, I’ve got to be able to live with it.
“The biggest thing, what I want to be able to do is leave with an ACC Championship like every other great Tech quarterback has done. That’s just what I want to do. That’s what I want to have my legacy as. I don’t think I’m as bad as 7-6, and I want to be better than that.”
Thomas insists he didn’t take a step back as a quarterback a year ago.
That might make some observers raise an eyebrow.
But Thomas can only be as good as the talent around him allows. And in order for Thomas to start building that legacy, he’s going to have to do what he couldn’t bring himself to do a year ago: trust his teammates.
“I’ve always been the one to put things on my back. Growing up, I was always the best player. I was always the leader. I was the one everybody looked to,” Thomas said. “So that’s kind of what I tried to do last year, but the thing is, what I’ve learned now is I’ve just got to let go. It’s a 'we' thing now. It’s not just me. I’ve just got to have that trust and that faith in those guys.”
Eventually last year, he got to the point where he stopped being frustrated and started being angry. He said that he played angry some last year -- or at least grittier than he had before -- and he’s going to keep that up this year.
“I don’t care what people say about me, what people do. My own teammates can talk bad about me but as long as they respect me and are willing to give me everything I’ve got, then I cannot complain,” Thomas said. “I think the guys, not that they like me better but that they respect me and understand me better and are willing to put more out there on the table and be better because they don’t want to let me down.”
