Bill Thomas - Defensive Assistant
Ninth season
Boston College '72

Former Boston College and Dallas Cowboys running back Bill Thomas, 50, is the only coach to have assisted Barry Gallup in all nine years of his Northeastern tenure. Thomas, a man familiar by experience with championship football and teaching, works with all positions on the field and specifically assists the Husky defensive coaches.

Playing Career: Earned a full football scholarship to Boston College, arriving in 1969, the senior season of Barry Gallup...was the top draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 1972, following a banner career for the lone Division I program in New England...played one and a half seasons at tailback for NFL Hall of Fame Coach Tom Landry...shared the backfield with the likes of Roger Staubach, Dan Reeves and Mike Ditka before leaving for Houston after 1973 campaign...ran the football for legendary Oiler and Charger coach Sid Gilman for nearly two years...capped professional career with Hank Stram's Kansas City Chiefs, retiring at the end of the 1975 season...starred in both football and basketball at Peekskill (N.Y.) High School, captaining both teams as a senior...an All-League and All-County pick on the gridiron and the court as a senior.

Personal: Born Aug. 7, 1949... moved from the NFL to a career as a faculty member and dean of discipline at Madison Park High School for the past 24 years, including 15 years as head football coach...resides in Waltham with wife Helen and their two boys, Mike (14, above left) and Kyle (9).