JT hires Steinberg as agent

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Jan. 9, 2003 | 10:07 a.m.

Jason Thomas may have lost the confidence of some UNLV fans, teammates and even his head coach, regarding his ability to become an NFL caliber quarterback. But he has the backing of perhaps the top football agent in the business.

Leigh Steinberg, whose client list has included NFL star quarterbacks Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Warren Moon, Mark Brunell, Drew Bledsoe, Jake Plummer and Kordell Stewart, has agreed to represent the UNLV quarterback.

Thomas, advised after a disappointing senior season to switch to tight end to better enhance his NFL prospects by UNLV coach John Robinson, will play quarterback for the West team in Saturday morning's annual East-West Shrine Football Game (11 a.m., ESPN) at Pac-Bell Park in San Francisco.

Robinson lobbied to get Thomas a spot in the all-star game, which is closely monitored by NFL scouts and coaches, by touting him as an athlete/quarterback prospect. But Thomas called Shrine Game officials last Friday and said he would withdraw from the game unless he could play quarterback.

The West team, which had already lost out on Carson Palmer, the Heisman Trophy winner from USC who will likely skip postseason play because he already is considered a Top 5 draft pick, as well as Washington State quarterback Jason Gesser (ankle injury) and Iowa State's Seneca Wallace (hip injury), bent to Thomas' wishes.

He will be joined at quarterback on the West squad coached by Fresno State's Pat Hill by Arizona's Jason Johnson and Portland State's Justin Wood, and will go against an East team that includes Heisman finalist Ken Dorsey of Miami and will be coached by Notre Dame's Tyrone Willingham.

"He has all the physical tools to play quarterback (in the NFL)," Steinberg said from his Newport Beach, Calif., offices on Wednesday afternoon. "Obviously he had some bumps in the road at UNLV. But you don't get any merit points (in the NFL Draft) for what you do in college. The draft is a projection for the next 10 to 12 years. And we feel Jason projects well."

Steinberg, the man the movie "Jerry McGuire" was loosely based on, quickly hired respected quarterback coach Randy Whitsitt to tutor Thomas for the next few months. The duo had four sessions before Thomas went off to Shrine Game workouts. And Moon also will work with Thomas.

"Frankly, he's going to undergo some very rigorous training the next few weeks," Steinberg said. "Jason, from a standpoint of size, arm strength and manueverability, projects well in the modern passing game. ... I think he'll benefit from that kind of interaction (with Moon and Whitsitt). He seems incredibily determined to put in the hours to perfect the process. I think by April, with that kind of focus, that he'll attract some attention from teams.

"Obviously, he's not going to be ranked up there with Carson Palmer and Byron Leftwich and Dave Ragone right now. He's realistic to know that a number of quarterbacks are rated ahead of him. But it's not where you're rated in January that's as important as where you're rated in April."

Whitsitt should be familar to Rebel fans. He was quarterback coach at UNLV from 1982 to 1986 and groomed a player often-compared athletically to Thomas in Randall Cunningham.

"They're both great athletes and they both can make plays," Whitsitt said. "Jason has a great attitude and has really been working hard. Coach Robinson said he's one of the best athletes he's ever worked with. He's very intelligent. And he has all the tools.

"I remember watching him play a game in high school. I said to myself, 'There's the Michael Jordan of football.' ... I think he could be one of the top guys, eventually."

Whitsitt has been busy tinkering with Thomas' throwing motion and footwork. He also said he is working on Thomas' mental approach to the position.

"We're trying to make the game as easy as we can both mentally and physically for him," he said. "You can make a player better fundamentally, but you can't give them a strong arm and athletic ability like Jason has. It's all about work. There's no guarantees. You're trying to find the keys to unlock that potential. It's fun and it's challenging."

No one is happier that Thomas is getting another chance to try to fulfill his childhood dream of playing quarterback in the NFL than his father, Charles Thomas.

Charles Thomas, who endorsed his son's decision to transfer from USC to UNLV over a number of higher profile schools such as Nebraska, Tennessee and Florida State, has privately been critcial of some of Robinson's coaching moves the last couple of years including:

"My son was put in a position to fail," Charles Thomas said. "He's made a Heisman Trophy candidate, something he really didn't want to do, and he doesn't even have a quarterback coach? People I talk with can't believe it. And then after he had the shoulder surgery, the doctors told him not to play. And when he told UNLV that, they were like, 'Well, what do you want to do?' Of course he told them he would play because he didn't want to let everybody down. But he shouldn't have been put in that position."

Robinson's reaction? "I have no comment on any of that," he said.

Charles Thomas said Robinson told his son at the end of the season that he should switch to tight end to improve his chances of playing in the NFL.

"Nobody we spoke to outside of Nevada and UNLV said Jason shouldn't be playing quarterback," Charles Thomas said.

"Jason was so beat up from the factions on the team and Coach Robinson's suggestion (to switch positions) that he was willing to try anything for a few weeks there. (Robinson) told him a scout said he'd be a third-round pick if he switched to tight end, but probably would be a seventh-round pick if he stayed at quarterback.

"I watched Jason work out for a couple hours (with Whitsitt) and it was the best he's looked in a long time. He looked like the old J.T. (Steinberg) sat and told us if you feel you're a quarterback, then go for it. You're 23 years old. Work on it for three or four more years. If it doesn't work out, then you can try another position. And that's what Jason wants to do."

If Jason Thomas wanted to play tight end or wide receiver, he could have stayed at USC, where Paul Hackett hinted at making such a switch.

"Jason gave up the opportunity to play for some of the best college football programs in the country but choose to play for UNLV because they had a Hall of Fame coach," Charles Thomas said. "We endorsed his decision but if Coach Robinson had told us that Jason would not have a quarterback coach for two years then we would have not supported his decision."

Still, Charles Thomas said he appreciates that Robinson convinced Shrine Game officials to select his son.

"Based on the season Jason had, that probably wasn't an easy thing to do," he said. "Did Jason benefit from coming to UNLV? I say he did. But did the school provide him with the tools and experience to be successful? I have mixed feelings. But life goes on. We're more concerned with the future now."

Despite that his son won't be playing at Sam Boyd Stadium any longer, Charles Thomas says he still will be a big UNLV fan.

"I think this season is going to be a better year for them," he said. "I think they can be a Top 25 team, if not this year then next.

"Face it. Coach Robinson is a great recruiter. Every year he brings in five or six blue chippers and the program gets that much stronger and deeper. And I hope Kurt (Nantkes, Jason Thomas' successor) does real well. He waited his turn. They're still going to be my team."

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