Ricky L. Thomas (born March 29, 1965) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). He played college football at

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

. Following a brief stint in the NFL with the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...

, he began a long coaching career spanning thirty years spent at the high school, college, and NFL level, including time coaching for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

and

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 20 ...

, with whom he earned a championship ring following the team's win in

Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

. Following the conclusion of his coaching career in 2018, he returned to

The McCallie School The McCallie School is a boys University-preparatory school, college-preparatory school located on Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. The school was founded in 1905 and now has 250 boarding students in grades 9–12 and 66 ...

Chattanooga, TN Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

, where he was the head coach between 1992 and 1996. He currently holds the title of Dean of Community and Brotherhood.

References

External links

Georgia State Panthers bio

Nevada Wolf Pack bio
1965 births Living people American football cornerbacks American football safeties Alabama Crimson Tide football players Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs football coaches Georgia State Panthers football coaches Indianapolis Colts coaches National Football League replacement players Nevada Wolf Pack football coaches Seattle Seahawks players Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs football coaches Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches High school football coaches in Alabama High school football coaches in Tennessee African-American coaches of American football 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{defensiveback-1960s-stub