FSU commit Bishop Thomas ready to make positive impact in Tallahassee

Thomas says he's locked in with the Seminoles as he prepares to sign in December.

While many seniors are getting into the stretch run of their final seasons of high school football, 2022 defensive tackle and Florida State commitment Bishop Thomas has taken a different path. Thomas elected to sit out this fall so he can hone in on his academics, rest his body, and be prepared to hit the ground running when he gets to Tallahassee.

READ MORE: QB commit AJ Duffy "locked in all the way" with Florida State

He informed the Seminoles coaches of his plan and they were on board. 

“It’s like, low-mileage," Thomas said to NoleGameday's Dustin Lewis. "You know when you’ve got a nice looking car? You don’t really pull the car out of the garage like that so it has low mileage. That’s really what it’s going to do for me. I’m going to have a lot of time for my body and mind to rest. When I go to school, it’s easy because I’ve been working on myself for like the last five months. That’s my mindset going into it.”

“Talking to the coaches," Thomas continued. "I told them that was the plan and they were with it. They trusted me to do everything I need to do so I can graduate early. That was really how it went.”

The Louisiana native has been committed to FSU since June. Despite the 1-4 start on the field, he's still fully locked in and believes the other members of the class are as well.

“Well, I’m locked in, all the way," Thomas said. "I don’t plan on decommitting and I think everybody is on board with that. As of now, we’re just waiting for the opportunity to sign and enroll so we can come in as a class and affect the school in a positive way.”

There has been worry that #Tribe22 could lose some commitments with the way the season has gone. Thomas is confident that they can keep everyone together.

“I’m fully confident," Thomas said. "I don’t think anyone is decommitting. Everybody knows that when they made that commitment, it felt right. To just decommit, I don’t think they would feel good about themselves if they did that.”

READ MORE: Wide receiver with ties to FSU staff member enters Transfer Portal

Thomas grew up watching Florida State but had never attended a game inside of Doak Campbell Stadium until earlier this season. He was in Tallahassee for the season-opener against Notre Dame and the experience lived up to his expectations.

“It didn’t feel real, honestly," Thomas said. "It took me a while to realize that I’m going through a recruitment process. I’m not going to say it felt regular, but it just didn’t feel so big. When I went to FSU for midnight madness, that was nice because I got to be on the field and see the inside. But when I came for my visit, it lived up to my expectations, it really did.”

“It was a good game," Thomas continued. "I ended up making my way down to the student's section so I could see how they react and everything. It came down to the last minute, I like that. Unfortunately, we lost.”

Now that the Seminoles have a mark in the win column, Thomas wants to see them carry that momentum forward into the rest of year. 

“The games we lost were close games, it’s not like we were blown out," Thomas said. "We’ve got to be able to finish and be consistent in big moments. As of the wins, I didn’t expect 0-4 but I wasn’t tripping about it. Right now, we’ve just got to be better. We’ve got to be consistent since we got a dub, we’ve got to catch another one and replace all of those losses.”

READ MORE: Florida State Seminoles release depth chart for North Carolina Tar Heels

The 6-foot-2, 301-pound defensive tackle plans to sign with Florida State in December and enroll in January. He's ranked as the No. 460 overall prospect, the No. 72 DL, and the No. 64 recruit in the state of Florida in the 2022 class according to 247Sports.

Stick with NoleGameday for the latest on Thomas with the Early Signing Period set to open in December.

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