JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Matt Thomas loved his family, loved University Christian and loved every bit of his sports gear collection.
As he battled an aggressive cancer that would eventually take his life last weekend, Thomas made it a point to tell his players at University Christian one very important thing.
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“Make sure the team lived their life to the fullest,” said UC head coach David Penland III. “Everybody has an expiration date. We don’t know when it is or when it’s going to come. Coach Thomas wanted people to be good people and honor God.”
The popular and longtime assistant coach for the University Christian football team, died on Saturday after a battle with melanoma cancer.
Tributes to Thomas rolled in across social media and the family’s private Facebook group after his wife, Leanne, posted about his passing. Thomas was 50. He and Leanne celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary on the day of his death.
Penland, now entering his 16th season at his alma mater, had worked with Thomas from the moment he arrived to lead the program in 2011. Penland said that Thomas loved coaching his sons, Caleb and Luke, from youth football all the way through their UC days. After Luke graduated in 2024, Penland said Thomas elected to keep on coaching at UC because he loved the program. He was a certified gear head, and loved getting new sports hats and attire, and especially shoes.
“He’s been there in some way, shape or form ever since I’ve been there,” Penland said. “He just loved the program. And he was a gear guy. I knew I couldn’t give out gear until I got it to Matt first. When we saw him last week, all he wanted to talk about was football. He said, ‘you got my gear yet?’ I said ‘I’ll bring it to you, brother.’ He loved UC. He loved the kids. [I’ll miss] the non-football stuff, really. Football brought us close, but the friendship I’ll definitely miss the most.”
A 1994 graduate of University Christian, Thomas was a star in both baseball and football for the Christians. UC won football titles under legendary head coach Robby Pruitt in 1991 and ’92. Matt played alongside his twin brother, Jeremy, throughout his high school years.
UC retired Jeremy’s football jersey number (86) during a 2019 game against Bishop Kenny. Tragically, Jeremy died Oct. 22, 2020, after a 14-month battle with brain cancer. During that time, Matt and Jeremy were able to enjoy trips together and take advantage of the time that they had left. Matt said during Jeremy’s jersey retirement that he’d tried to make every memory he could during the face of such a challenging time. Matt wound up facing that challenging time of his own after being diagnosed with cancer last March.
UC will miss Matt, too.
Defensive lineman Julius LaRosa III said the team had missed his presence at camp as he battled the cancer, but he was never too far away from the squad. Thomas had coached LaRosa since his ninth grade season.
“Not only was he a coach he was also a great person off the field,” said LaRosa. “Coach Thomas loved us and we also love him. One thing that reached out to me that Coach Thomas said when we did our three-mile run to his house was ‘live each day and life to the fullest.’ Although it is a tough time right now we are still in high spirits to know he is in a great place now. We are playing this season for Coach Thomas.”
On July 15, News4JAX posted a video of the UC football team jogging from school to Matt and Leanne’s house roughly three miles away to encourage and pray for him. It was a special morning for both players, coaches and the Thomas family. The story about UC running to Coach Thomas’ house went viral and made it to NBC Nightly News.
Matt’s family said that visit gave him a much-needed boost in his fight. During treatment a week later, the family posted an update that the cancer had spread and that Matt would be entering palliative care but still continuing his fight.