In this special episode of Arena Insider Press Pass, we spoke with Southwest Kansas Storm's first-year head coach Gary Thomas. We learned more about his coaching background, the small town of Dodge City, Kansas and why the team is entering the new Arena Football League season with an underdog mentality. Like and subscribe for new interviews, highlights and more. Follow us on our social media channels and visit our website: arenainsider.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I only say that we're the underdogsbecause you know, people like to bring
up quite often that we're the smallestmarket. Okay, I guess, I
guess we'll find out Senate add Cityof Kansas. They are Lincoln, Texas
(00:29):
Longhorns came up to the Cowboy Capitalto take out of the Southwest Kansas Storm,
one of Arena Football's newest expansion teams, ready to make an impact.
The thing that's going to immediately drawpeople to us is the product that we
put out there. Southwest Kansas Storm'sfirst year head coach Gary Thomas is coming
to the league with a new andunique approach. He was previously a consultant
with the team when it was partof the Champions Indoor Football League. I'm
(00:52):
pretty proud of the group that webrought into camp. We are, Like
I said, I felt real goodthat we could put a pretty a group
of athletes together here in Dodge City. I mean, we did it at
the collegiate level where people said thatit couldn't be done, and we did
it. And I'm honestly we're tentimes better than I thought that we could
(01:14):
ever be, at least athletically withthe group that we brought in, so
I'm you know, I'm super excitedto be a part of it and super
excited to be in on the groundfloor and hopefully, you know, we
can help the league build this thinginto what I know that their vision is
for, you know, the nextthree to five to ten years of this.
This isn't his first go around inthe coaching world. Thomas served as
(01:36):
head coach of the Dodge City CommunityCollege Conquistadors from twenty thirteen to twenty eighteen.
He describes his coaching style as playerfriendly, while also understanding the difference
from the junior college level to professionalthat process is different than this process.
Our guys here are you know,obviously grown men at this point. We're
talking you know, twenty three,twenty four to probably twenty eight year old
(01:57):
guys. Most of them, youknow, so they come here having played
four year football, so we don'thave to spend as much time on the
technique. We don't have to youknow, it doesn't always have to be
done a certain way. They've hadgreat coaching at the four year level,
some of them. I mean,we have guys that have NFL experienced,
CFL experience, UF they've had coachingat the highest levels of football. So
(02:20):
for us, it's about getting themcomfortable with our terminology, our scheme,
making sure they can make the adjustments, understanding, helping them understand the vision
of where it needs to get to, and just honestly being working, not
necessarily approaching it that I'm your bossand this is how it's going to go,
of of letting him know that it'suh, you know, we're going
to work in this together and havea great working relationship. Hand up the
(02:46):
riga and he's in to the endzone for the touchdown. Billy Ringgan's a
two yard run and it made thatthat looked easy, you know. Thomas
says one of thinks he's looking forwardto the most this season, he's building
relationships. Aside from campsure an ArenaBol trophy, he wants to help players
either get to the national football levelor land business careers. Our fans get
(03:07):
a great experience, our owners getout of it what they need to get
out of it. You know,we as competitive individuals, coaches and players,
you know, put a great productout there and win football games and
feel good about how we got tothat point. And for the players,
making sure that they feel like youknow, they got coached, they got
treated well, and that they youknow, you know, we can't promise
(03:31):
anything and we can't see the future, but you know, when they leave
here, they feel like, youknow what, the coaches did everything that
they said that they were going todo, and they did everything in their
power to make sure that this wasa great experience and you know, put
me on a trajectory to go somewherein life, you know, whether that's
leaving here and realizing, you knowwhat, that was a great experience,
(03:53):
but you know, professional football,this might be it for me. Maybe
I need to go get a job. And you know, they helped me,
you know, funnel me towards acareer and gave me great you know,
opportunities in that in that spectrum,and maybe some of them, you
know, honestly, I look ata few of them, Like I said,
I have guys playing in the NFL. I have guys playing in the
CFL. I know what those athleteslook like and what they're what they're supposed
(04:14):
to look like running around, andwe have a few that, honestly,
I am shocked that they're in thisleague. They probably should play at higher
should play at higher level. Andhopefully we can give them, you know,
that exposure and and and put themin a system that showcases their abilities,
and hopefully they get those opportunities movingforward, you know, after this
this storm. I located in DodgeCity, Kansas, a population of nearly
(04:36):
twenty eight thousand people. However,it's a growing in tourist field city with
rich history. Coach Thomas expected todraw significantly more eyes than before, especially
with some games slated to be nationallytelevised. We've got a really great facility,
you know, I've seen some ofthe other camps honestly online. We've
got a great practice facility, probablybetter than most. Our arena is really
(04:59):
nice. We've got a casino connectedto it, so it's great for uh,
you know, for travel people comingin. There's stuff to do.
You know, we've probably in ourin our local area, you know,
within you know, if you tookyou know, some of the major cities,
Philly, Nashville, stuff like that. You know, it's probably you
know, hour and a half fromone side of town to the other.
And that's essentially you know, whatour fan base is. There's probably I
(05:23):
would guess one hundred and forty onehundred and fifty thousand people, uh in
that you know hour to hour anda half range, So we draw from
a from a pretty big area.I'd say the biggest difference is is,
you know, when our guys walkaround town here, they're they're gonna get
recognized. You know, people aregoing to know that, you know,
the six foot eight guy plays youknow for the Storm plays in the Arena
(05:45):
Football League. You know they're goingto stand out. And and I would
make the argument too that you know, if if we've got an arena of
five thousand seats and we put fortyfive hundred people in there, you're going
to have an electric environment. Asmall town on paper, but go going
into the new season with a championshipmindset of a big city. Ours is
going to be loud. The fansare going to be engaged, They're going
(06:08):
to be vocal. People are alwaysrooting for the underdog. You know,
if you were at practice yesterday andyou looked at a roster, you wouldn't
think that we're underdogs. I onlysay that we're the underdogs because you know,
people like to bring up quite oftenthat we're the smallest market. I
guess, I guess we'll find out, we have ten opportunities to prove if
that matters or not.
I only say that we're the underdogsbecause you know, people like to bring
up quite often that we're the smallestmarket. Okay, I guess, I
guess we'll find out Senate add Cityof Kansas. They are Lincoln, Texas
(00:29):
Longhorns came up to the Cowboy Capitalto take out of the Southwest Kansas Storm,
one of Arena Football's newest expansion teams, ready to make an impact.
The thing that's going to immediately drawpeople to us is the product that we
put out there. Southwest Kansas Storm'sfirst year head coach Gary Thomas is coming
to the league with a new andunique approach. He was previously a consultant
with the team when it was partof the Champions Indoor Football League. I'm
(00:52):
pretty proud of the group that webrought into camp. We are, Like
I said, I felt real goodthat we could put a pretty a group
of athletes together here in Dodge City. I mean, we did it at
the collegiate level where people said thatit couldn't be done, and we did
it. And I'm honestly we're tentimes better than I thought that we could
(01:14):
ever be, at least athletically withthe group that we brought in, so
I'm you know, I'm super excitedto be a part of it and super
excited to be in on the groundfloor and hopefully, you know, we
can help the league build this thinginto what I know that their vision is
for, you know, the nextthree to five to ten years of this.
This isn't his first go around inthe coaching world. Thomas served as
(01:36):
head coach of the Dodge City CommunityCollege Conquistadors from twenty thirteen to twenty eighteen.
He describes his coaching style as playerfriendly, while also understanding the difference
from the junior college level to professionalthat process is different than this process.
Our guys here are you know,obviously grown men at this point. We're
talking you know, twenty three,twenty four to probably twenty eight year old
(01:57):
guys. Most of them, youknow, so they come here having played
four year football, so we don'thave to spend as much time on the
technique. We don't have to youknow, it doesn't always have to be
done a certain way. They've hadgreat coaching at the four year level,
some of them. I mean,we have guys that have NFL experienced,
CFL experience, UF they've had coachingat the highest levels of football. So
(02:20):
for us, it's about getting themcomfortable with our terminology, our scheme,
making sure they can make the adjustments, understanding, helping them understand the vision
of where it needs to get to, and just honestly being working, not
necessarily approaching it that I'm your bossand this is how it's going to go,
of of letting him know that it'suh, you know, we're going
to work in this together and havea great working relationship. Hand up the
(02:46):
riga and he's in to the endzone for the touchdown. Billy Ringgan's a
two yard run and it made thatthat looked easy, you know. Thomas
says one of thinks he's looking forwardto the most this season, he's building
relationships. Aside from campsure an ArenaBol trophy, he wants to help players
either get to the national football levelor land business careers. Our fans get
(03:07):
a great experience, our owners getout of it what they need to get
out of it. You know,we as competitive individuals, coaches and players,
you know, put a great productout there and win football games and
feel good about how we got tothat point. And for the players,
making sure that they feel like youknow, they got coached, they got
treated well, and that they youknow, you know, we can't promise
(03:31):
anything and we can't see the future, but you know, when they leave
here, they feel like, youknow what, the coaches did everything that
they said that they were going todo, and they did everything in their
power to make sure that this wasa great experience and you know, put
me on a trajectory to go somewherein life, you know, whether that's
leaving here and realizing, you knowwhat, that was a great experience,
(03:53):
but you know, professional football,this might be it for me. Maybe
I need to go get a job. And you know, they helped me,
you know, funnel me towards acareer and gave me great you know,
opportunities in that in that spectrum,and maybe some of them, you
know, honestly, I look ata few of them, Like I said,
I have guys playing in the NFL. I have guys playing in the
CFL. I know what those athleteslook like and what they're what they're supposed
(04:14):
to look like running around, andwe have a few that, honestly,
I am shocked that they're in thisleague. They probably should play at higher
should play at higher level. Andhopefully we can give them, you know,
that exposure and and and put themin a system that showcases their abilities,
and hopefully they get those opportunities movingforward, you know, after this
this storm. I located in DodgeCity, Kansas, a population of nearly
(04:36):
twenty eight thousand people. However,it's a growing in tourist field city with
rich history. Coach Thomas expected todraw significantly more eyes than before, especially
with some games slated to be nationallytelevised. We've got a really great facility,
you know, I've seen some ofthe other camps honestly online. We've
got a great practice facility, probablybetter than most. Our arena is really
(04:59):
nice. We've got a casino connectedto it, so it's great for uh,
you know, for travel people comingin. There's stuff to do.
You know, we've probably in ourin our local area, you know,
within you know, if you tookyou know, some of the major cities,
Philly, Nashville, stuff like that. You know, it's probably you
know, hour and a half fromone side of town to the other.
And that's essentially you know, whatour fan base is. There's probably I
(05:23):
would guess one hundred and forty onehundred and fifty thousand people, uh in
that you know hour to hour anda half range, So we draw from
a from a pretty big area.I'd say the biggest difference is is,
you know, when our guys walkaround town here, they're they're gonna get
recognized. You know, people aregoing to know that, you know,
the six foot eight guy plays youknow for the Storm plays in the Arena
(05:45):
Football League. You know they're goingto stand out. And and I would
make the argument too that you know, if if we've got an arena of
five thousand seats and we put fortyfive hundred people in there, you're going
to have an electric environment. Asmall town on paper, but go going
into the new season with a championshipmindset of a big city. Ours is
going to be loud. The fansare going to be engaged, They're going
(06:08):
to be vocal. People are alwaysrooting for the underdog. You know,
if you were at practice yesterday andyou looked at a roster, you wouldn't
think that we're underdogs. I onlysay that we're the underdogs because you know,
people like to bring up quite oftenthat we're the smallest market. I
guess, I guess we'll find out, we have ten opportunities to prove if
that matters or not.
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