Corey Thomas Sr. died last week after more than 30 years dedicated to coaching and serving the youth of Hillsborough County. He was 52 years old. (image provided by the Thomas Family)
By Jarrett Guthrie
Editor
TAMPA – Few people learn how much they truly impact others’ lives. Often, it’s in passing that people earn the praise that should have been heaped upon them in life.
Corey Thomas Jr. knew his father’s impact on his own life, and also knew his dedication to the youth of Tampa. But he’s now, sadly, finding out just how great that impact was.
Corey Thomas Sr., longtime area youth coach, 30-year City of Tampa Parks & Rec employee and friend and mentor to countless kids across Hillsborough County, died of a stroke last week. He was 52 years old.
“To be honest, in life I want to get to the heights he reached,” Thomas Jr. said. “Because in his death, I’m seeing how much of a legend he was. People are calling from Philadelphia, New York, all over to tell me they will be in town (for his service), that they wouldn’t miss it because he meant so much to them.
“People all week have told me, ‘he wasn’t only your father,’ those are words that mean so much. He taught me so much and I can’t put into words all the things I learned from him. But all these people reaching out, telling me he had that same impact in their lives – I’m so proud.”
Through coaching, Mr. Thomas found a way to have an impact on countless numbers of young people over 30-plus years with the parks department. He was in charge of Wellswood Park, worked for the Yellow Jackets Little League, spent time at Temple Terrace Pony, coached at Bayshore Christian School, coached most recently with the Phenoms youth baseball program in Forest Hills. Baseball, football, basketball, street hockey – Thomas literally coached them all.
“He worked for the parks department for 32 years, coaching whatever he could,” Thomas Jr. said. “Baseball to football, to basketball, street hockey, soccer whatever he could do to coach kids. He was a real pillar of this community.”
Mr. Thomas not only coached, he invested, according to Spoto assistant coach Stephan Knight.
“He wanted to see all his kids succeed in life and checked in on us and all our family to this day,” Knight said. “Every time I saw him, he had something beautiful to say. I’m heartbroken.
“My nickname on Facebook is Coach’e, because that is what he calls everybody, ‘coach’e, hey coach’e,’ I’d always hear him yell.”
Leto head coach JJ Pizzio remembered Mr. Thomas on Wednesday as a dedicated servant to the youth of Tampa Bay, and an ardent supporter of those who took up the mantle of “Coach’e” at any level.
“We all knew him as a gentle giant,” Pizzio said. “Big man with a huge heart for kids in general, both as a park director and coach.
“He was one of my biggest supporters when I got the job at Middleton.”
His impact was felt across social media this week, and the coaching community at large is grieving, but also celebrating the legacy of Mr. Thomas.
“He ran afterschool programs at his park at Wellswood, ran teen events at night so they had a safe place to go,” Berkeley Prep coach Richie Warren said. “He just never said, ‘no’ to any kid in need. There are just not many people like Coach Corey that exist in our world. Very few people treat other kids as well as they treat their own. He looked out for everyone else before himself.”
Knight, who began playing for Mr. Thomas at the age of 11 with the Yellow Jackets, echoed those sentiments of his former coach’s way with all his players.
“I met him at 11 and he coached me for a number of years,” Knight said. “His son was on the team, but you would never be able to pick him out because he treated all of us the same … he really taught us the game at an early age, about playing the game of baseball the right way. Playing hard, bunting, always looking to take the next bag and compete – but not just baseball-wise, he also loved seeing us use those things we learned in our adult life.”
Knight said his 11U travel baseball team will team will honor Mr. Thomas this season by wearing the name “Twins” as a majority of his mentor’s teams wore through the years.
Wednesday night at 7pm, the Yellow Jackets will hold a candlelight vigil in remembrance of Mr. Thomas and the community is welcome. That event will be held at 611 W Indiana Ave. in Tampa.
A wake for Mr. Thomas will be held on Friday from 4-8pm at Akins Funeral Home at 2708 E Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. in Tampa.
