'This guy is a little tank': Kam Thomas has big breakout as UTEP Miners' go-to playmaker

Kam Thomas is easy to spot on the field for the UTEP football team.

He’s often the one with the ball in his hands and he should see it a lot Saturday in the Sun Bowl opener against Southern Utah as UTEP’s first breakout offensive player of the Scotty Walden era.

The junior is listed as a Miner back, as opposed to last year when he was a Governor back at Austin Peay , but that’s not really a position.

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So what exactly is a Miner back?

“It's more of a flexible position,” Thomas said of the wideout/slot/tailback hybrid. “I line up wherever coach decides to put me. I'm a plug-in player.

“If he decides to put me in the backfield one play, I'll go in the backfield. If he decides to put me in for one play at tight end, I'll go in at tight end. Where ever coach puts me in I'll execute to the best of my ability.”

Thomas is also the primary punt returner and the primary kickoff returner. In the opener against Nebraska, he had seven catches for 71 yards and the first touchdown of the Scotty Walden era, a rush, a 29-yard punt return and two kickoff returns.

So really, what’s his position?

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“Athlete,” Thomas said. “I'm an athlete. I can do it all.”

That’s something Walden has been saying for a while.

Thomas "is an all-purpose guy," Walden said. "Some people would say gadget guy, I don't say gadget guy because those guys just do certain gadgets. Kam is an all-purpose scat back: He can line up in the backfield, he can bet a jet sweep guy, a take-you-deep guy, a screen guy.

"He can literally play running back. We're able to get the best guys on the field and Kam, with that pedigree, fits that to a T. He can do it all for you."

Thomas has spent his entire college career with Walden.

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As part of a COVID class (Thomas graduated from Ramsey High in Birmingham in 2021) and as a 5-foot-7, 184-pound receiver, his options were limited and he followed a pipeline from Ramsey to Austin Peay to play for Walden. Two players from Ramsey preceded him in going to Peay.

That was his best opportunity, as it turns out, in more ways than one way.

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“I didn't know much about the recruiting process, I had a few offers coming out of high school, but I trusted my high school teammates who went to Austin Peay,” Thomas said. ”I followed them. I took a leap of faith.”

He took a star turn for two years there, then made another leap of faith, this time invested in Walden. That led him to El Paso.

“When I got (to Austin Peay) he treated me like a son,” Thomas said. “I didn't want to play for anybody else. When I got in the portal when coach Walden left Peay, a lot of schools were recruiting me, but something told me I needed to go where coach Walden goes.

“I don't want to play for anybody but him. The coaches he brought here, that's the offense I want to play in. It fits me perfectly.”

Walden saw that all along. Thomas' height didn't matter to him because there's more to his game than that.

"We saw his tape, man, this guy is a little tank," Walden said. "He's all muscle, he ran a 10.5 (second) 100 meters. His brother plays for the (Arizona) Cardinals now (Starling Thomas V, an Alabama-Birmingham alum, is a second-year cornerback in the NFL).

"He had the pedigree, he had the mindset and when we recruited him, he became our kick returner on Day 1. Then he blossomed into what you see today, an all-purpose guy. It took him a year, but his ability, his demeanor, his work ethic is second to none."

Though Thomas had the best statistics in the opening week (73 of UTEP's 205 yards), he's not caught up with numbers, which is important for a player with so many roles.

“I let the game come to me,” he said. “Whatever coach has planned I'll execute to the best of my ability. I don't say, 'I'm going to have this many yards, this many catches.'

“If I have zero catches, I'll execute my block for Trey Goodman. I'll execute my route to get somebody else open. I don't say how many catches, whatever God has for me.”

Goodman knows that about one of his closest friends on the team, a fellow Peay transfer.

"I love Kam," Goodman said. "He's one of my best friends. He's fun to be around in the locker room. The good thing about Kam, he flips the switch very well. He's able to have fun in the locker room and be boys, then he goes onto the field and understands, Hey, we have work to do.

"It's an attitude that permeates the team. Obviously he's a talented player, he's fast, he's twitchy, he can do whatever — run, catch, he's versatile. But more than that, he's a great guy."

What was there for Thomas in the opener was a touchdown against Nebraska on a 38-yard bomb that left the Miners in a 7-7 tie.

“After the game I had 200 text messages, 100 new followers ” on Instagram, Thomas said. “El Paso has a really good fan base. When you're making plays on the field, they'll support you. I love it here. The fan base is really good.

“I can't wait to pack the Sun Bowl.”

He’ll get a chance to see that Saturday against Southern Utah.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: 'This guy is a little tank': Kam Thomas has big breakout as UTEP Miners' go-to playmaker