Hall of Fame
"Rosie" Thomas entered Fork Union in 1918 and during his three years at FUMA he was a gifted and talented athlete. He went onto VPI where he continued his athletic prowess and graduated in 1925.
After graduation, he coached the Tech freshman baseball team to an undefeated season. Â He then went on to sign a pro baseball contract with Indianapolis of the International League as a catcher.
An arm injury ended his baseball career and he returned to FUMAÂ in 1930 to teach math and science. At this same time he became athletic director and coached football, basketball, baseball and track.
Coach Thomas served FUMA as coach and Athletic Director from 1931 until 1968. During his long and highly successful coaching career, his teams won 14 State Baseball Championships, 6 State Football and 6 State Basketball Championships.
During the seasons between 1935 and 1941, he engineered a single-wing offense that defeated all comers in the Virginia Military Football League and produced undefeated teams in 1936, 1938 and 1939. In 1948 all three of his teams - football, basketball and baseball - won state titles. In addition to his athletic duties, he served as Assistant to the President from 1960 to 1968.
He was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1979. Coach Thomas was one of the most widely known and respected men in athletics.
