Marshall Thomas won more than 400 basketball games at Saginaw High.
But even that number diminishes his impact on Saginaw High School and the Saginaw community.
The former coach, teacher, tutor, counselor, administrator, deacon and community volunteer died Monday, Nov. 17, leaving a void in the Saginaw community. He was 78.
MORE: Marshall Thomas Gymnasium: Saginaw honors legendary coach and educator
“You can’t quantify the level of impact Coach Thomas had on not just athletes and not just at Saginaw High,” said Eugene Seals, who played for Thomas before moving on to play at Miami of Ohio and becoming a high school basketball coach at Bridgeport, Heritage and Saginaw United.
“He’s one of those guys you can’t really quantify how important he was, because he was so important to everyone he met. He taught a lot of guys how to be a father. For guys who didn’t have that, he became a father figure. He was more than just important. He was more like family than a coach.”
Thomas graduated from Saginaw High in 1966 and went on to compete in football, basketball and track at Western New Mexico. He returned to Saginaw as a physical education teacher and swim instructor at Arthur Eddy before taking a job at Saginaw High as a math teacher.
At Saginaw High, he was a teacher, tutor, football coach, track coach, basketball coach, golf coach, cross country coach, counselor and athletic director.
He retired as a coach in 2004 with a boys basketball record of 381-133 and a girls basketball record of 53-13. During his 22 years as the boys basketball coach, the Trojans won 16 district championships, reached the semifinals five times and claimed the Class A state championship in 1996.
“He was such a great person, you almost forget he was a great coach,” Seals said. “Part of what made him a great coach is that he cared. If a kid was having trouble, he would get him out of the situation and help the family. If a kid needed assistance or food, Coach T was always there.
“I remember almost being overlooked for the NIKE All-American Camp in 1999, but Coach T made sure I got in the camp. Not only that, he drove me and Anthony Roberson to the camp in Indiana. I remember him sitting and watching like a proud dad.”
Former Eisenhower and Heritage boys basketball coach Terry Boswell was never able to beat the Trojans or Thomas, but he always came away with plenty of respect.
“Coach Thomas had a standard, and Saginaw High pretty much held up that standard every game,” Boswell said. “His teams were ready to play no matter who they were playing against. They never played down to the competition. His teams were always a class act, because he was always a class act and his teams reflected that.
“There was never any attempt to embarrass opponents. This is how we play the game, this is what we’re going to achieve. In victory or defeat, nothing changed. He was still the same person … a gentleman in every sense of the word. He was an icon.”
His basketball success led to a television job as an analyst for the Michigan High School Athletic Association during the boys basketball state finals.
“He was one of a kind,” former MHSAA information coordinator John Johnson said. “It’s nice when you get to know people on different fronts, and what you saw from Marshall was that he was just a fantastic person, a class act, a true leader, a true servant.
“He was an excellent ambassador, not just for Saginaw schools but for Saginaw and the state.”
Thomas retired from teaching in 2009, to save a job for a younger teacher. He continued to serve as an assistant teacher and tutor.
“He was more than just a coach … an excellent educator and the counselor of all counselors,” former Saginaw High athletic director Dan Szatkowski said. “If he had your back, he had your back, and you knew it.
“You never said anything bad about Saginaw around him. No way. He was a special man. He will not be and can never be replaced in the history of Saginaw.”
Former Arthur Hill boys basketball coach Dave Slaggert coached against Thomas on junior high, junior varsity and varsity levels.
“He was the face of Saginaw High, the rock,” Slaggert said. “He made an indelible mark in the history of Saginaw, not just sports. He was one of the great ones. He always had that big smile on his face.
“He was a kind and decent, character-driven, integrity-driven human being who did so much for Saginaw.”
Thomas is a member of the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame and the Western New Mexico Hall of Fame. He was named Saginawian of the Year in 2009.
“Losing Coach hurts because he meant so much to us, but we’re going to carry on his legacy,” Saginaw High boys basketball coach Julian Taylor said. Taylor also played for Thomas at Saginaw High.
“He held us to a higher standard, and he was a great motivator,” Taylor said. “As a kid, you always wanted to play for him. When he came to talk to us in middle school or junior high, it was like an NBA pro talking to us. It was an honor.
“He was well-respected not just around Saginaw or the state, but around the country. You would go different places in the country and bring up Saginaw basketball, and they would ask about Marshall Thomas.”
Taylor remembers one of Thomas’ most important rules.
“He was a disciplined coach, and that carried over into our lives,” Taylor said. “If you were 15 minutes early, you were late. If practice was at 3 p.m., we had to be at practice a half hour early so that that we were already stretched and doing drills before practice began.
“It taught all of us to be on time in the future whether that was in college or when we got jobs. We learned that discipline from Coach.”
Taylor is one of Thomas’ former players who went into coaching and earned state titles. Thomas also coached Darvin Ham, who went on to become an NBA coach.
“Just look at his pedigree with guys who have won state titles, guys like Lou Dawkins, Mike Thomas, Greg McMath and probably some around the country I’ve forgotten,” Taylor said. “He was a true leader. He would help anybody he could help. He was there for you, whether it was for advice or even finding a job. He was there for us.”
Thomas leaves behind a wife, Yvonne Thomas, and five daughters – Alexis, Natalijia, Monica, Julia and Celeste. Funeral arrangements are incomplete.
“I will forever be grateful to have known him … he was a blessing,” Szatkowski said. “He was a man of faith and had a trust in God. People who knew him or interacted with him felt good for the experience.
“He was an absolutely positive person, and he would just make you feel good being around him. I would bet a thousand dollars you never had a negative interaction with him. He was more than a coach. He was true class and a true gentleman.”
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