By John Loop
Sports Editor

Coppell Cowboys senior defensive end Solomon Thomas brought out all of the stops in announcing his college choice this morning at Coppell.

Thomas, whose choice was televised nationally on ESPNU, pulled out a Cardinal pine tree from under the table, and added a personal touch, a pair of taped glasses to announce his decision to attend Stanford University in the fall.

“[Senior offensive lineman] Bill Weber and I got the idea of using the tree on my way home after I had officially committed,” Thomas said. “He said ‘That’s a great idea because it’s ‘Fear the Tree.’ The glasses were my idea.”

Thomas was ranked No. 25 in the ESPN 300 recruiting ratings and was considered the No. 4 defensive end in the country. The senior had narrowed down his choices from over 50 Division I football programs initially to three: University of California-Los Angeles, the University of Arkansas, and the Cardinal.

Razorbacks fans probably took Thomas’ choice the hardest, after the senior spurned Arkansas, where his sister Ella is currently enrolled, along with many other friends, for California.

“It was so hard because I just love it there,” Thomas said. “My friends and sister were there. I know a lot of players. I’m in love with the coaching staff there and in love with the school, but I think Stanford is the place for me.”

Thomas first got wind of Stanford from Jacob Logan, his teammate last year who passed away tragically midway through football season.

“Jacob actually told me to check them out one time in spring ball my sophomore year, so I did,” Thomas said. “They offered after that, and everything went in the right direction.”

Thomas heads to Palo Alto to play for a head coach in David Shaw, who much like former Coppell coach Joe McBride, is heavily defensive minded. Shaw has coached the Cardinal defense to three straight BCS bowl games and a Pac-12 North title in the last four years, and his relationship with Thomas was a big factor in his commitment.

“At first I thought [Shaw] was a strict, not happy guy because he was very serious,” Thomas said. “Then I saw him after that, and saw him become himself around his players. He’s a cool guy and he’s really good with the players.”

According to Thomas, Shaw and the Stanford coaching staff will keep the four-star signee at his natural position: defensive end. This is a move that former Coppell defensive coordinator and new head coach Mike DeWitt thinks will suit Thomas well in his college career and beyond.

“We did a lot of things with him,” DeWitt said. “We would move him around, and based upon matchups, set him to the field. Sometimes he would even stand up. He can do it all. He’s going to be a great player. He’s a great player now, and he’ll continue to be a great one.””

After the cameras were turned off, and the auditorium was filled with empty seats, Solomon’s mother, Martha Thomas, breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

“Oh my gosh, it is such a relief,” Martha Thomas said of the long recruiting process. “You cannot even imagine.”