Deiss decides on future, A&M-Kingsville football
"He's a true Ricebird. He has a big heart and plays very, very hard." -Bob Gillis
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley On To The Next Level Ricebird senior Thad Deiss signs a letter of intent to play football for the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas. Pictured with Deiss are his mother (front, l), Laura Deiss, his father (front, r) Stephen Deiss and coaches (back, l-r) Wayne Condra and Bob Gillis.

Thad Deiss made his collegiate dreams official Wednesday morning on national signing day.

The graduating Ricebird put ink to a letter of intent to play football ffor Texas A&M-Kingsville.

"Well, it's great for Thad and it's great for his parents," Ricebird AD and Head Football Coach Bob Gillis said. "I think, as I always say, it's great for our program. El Campo has got a rich tradition and we've always had some good relations with A&M-Kingsville. We have kids down there playing now and I think it's great. I always think it eases the kids' mind and the parents' mind when they can sign on signing day."

The deciding factor for Deiss turned out to be a bit of familiarity that helped him decide on the school. The personalities of the A&M-Kingsville staff reminded him of home.

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley Run On, Ricebird Thad Deiss puts a move on an Angleton Wildcat and shows off his speed in this kick-off return.

"I'd have to say that would be the coaching staff," Deiss said. "Going there from here, we've got a real good coaching staff that's kind of around you all the time. Going over there, it's the same thing, so that's really nice."

Of course, another deciding factor was obvious - the Javelinas wanted him.

"It feels good," Deiss said. "There's really nothing to worry about any more. You don't have to worry about, 'Oh, I'm going here or I'm going here.' It's kind of a solid decision in my mind."

Deiss' immediate impact at Kingsville remains up in the air. Coaches have not decided yet if their latest recruit will play as a freshman or red shirt, giving him a year to learn the Javelinas' system. The decision may rest on how Deiss works from now until his first day as a Javelina.

"We don't really know at this point," Deiss said. "There's a chance that either one could happen. I need to gain some weight before the season, so we'll see how that works out." What is known is that Deiss is looked at as a solid safety either soon or later down the line.

Gillis said the Javelinas are getting one of the Ricebirds' best on and off the field.

"Thad's so smart," the coach said. "He's smart academically and he's got a lot of football sense. He'll be able to pick up things that they do that are different than what we did and be able to adjust and go. The work ethic that he has, the kid will go down and work and they're going to find a place to play him."

Gillis said he will miss Deiss' presence in the secondary and also his leadership.

"He's a true Ricebird. He has a big heart and plays very, very hard. He works extremely hard. As a free safety, he got better and better and better each week. We also used him at running back this year, so he was a very unselfish kid that did whatever we asked him to do.

"He was a joy to coach and we're really going to miss him. Hopefully we can find somebody to replace him. I don't know if you can replace kids like that. Hopefully you can have someone that you can plug in and maybe strive to replace him."

While at A&M-Kingsville, Deiss plans on studying biology in pursuit of a pre-med degree. Deiss has studied hard throughout his high school career and plans on continuing that in college. His 1270 SAT score and high academic goals where something that set him apart from other recruits for the Javelinas.

Deiss also stood out with a single play this season. Against Lamar Consolidated, Deiss made a great play to return a blocked field goal for a touchdown. Gillis said that play made several recruiters take notice of him.

It was included in highlight footage of Deiss' career and was one of his own favorite moments on the field.

"That was something I've been waiting for a long time," Deiss said. "Since my sophomore year, every field goal or extra point, I would step across the line there and make sure it wasn't a fake or something. Every time, I always wanted to get it blocked so I could pick it up.

"Luckily, Bryce (Skow) got in there and took it to the face for me. It bounced off and I grabbed it and I ran as fast as I could for as long as I could until I got to the end zone."

Deiss hopes to make similar plays for the Javelinas and his parents, Stephen and Laura Deiss, look forward to seeing him suit up since Kingsville is still relatively close to home.

"We're real excited for him," Laura Deiss said. "We have a lot of family who have graduated from A&M-Kingsville. He'll be close to home so we can see him play and we're just looking forward to it. He's worked hard to achieve this goal and I'm excited for him.

"We've pretty much, between Stephen and I, have made every single thing that the boys have ever done. So, yes, that's going to be real hard to miss some of it. It will be nice to be able to do that and maybe even get to travel to some of the away games that aren't too very far."

Stephen Deiss agreed that the school's proximity is a positive in the signing.

"We have a lot of family down there," he said. "He'll have a lot of support and anytime he needs anything, all he'll have to do is get on the phone to us and we can take care of things for him. Of course, it's far enough away where he's out on his own, but he's close enough for that support."

He took a trip with his son earlier and said he was highly impressed with the Javelinas' coaching staff.

"I was very fortunate that I was able to go on the recruiting trip with Thad to Kingsville," Stephen Deiss said. "I was very impressed by how they just seem to know Thad. They took the time to look at his film, they found out things about him. I'm sure they called Coach Gillis and asked about him.

"It seemed as though they really knew him by the time we got there. They just took care of us. They joked around with us. The staff there is cut from the same cloth as the staff here in El Campo where they're very personable and they really want to know you."

Recruiting processes can often be stressful. One of the most difficult things to deal with is the lack of a complete commitment from schools.

"There's a lot of uncertainties and a lot of things that we didn't know," Laura Deiss said. "I know we badgered Coach Gillis going, 'What do we do?' Because I didn't want to look back and say, 'Well, what if we had done this?' They were a great help in helping us do whatever we needed to do so that he had the best chance for his future and the goals he had set for himself."

Gillis said he appreciated A&M-Kingsville's actions throughout its pursuit of Deiss.

"The only thing we ask of any college recruiter is to be honest," Gillis said. "That's it. Be honest if you like a kid, be honest if they're fourth or fifth on the list and be honest if you're not going to recruit them. That's the only thing I've ever asked anybody to be is to be honest with me.

"They were very honest and very up front. I know Coach (Wayne) Condra dealt with (Coach Bo Atterberry) quite a bit. What he said was the way it happened. I'm very pleased with their honesty."

Condra said he knows the university is getting a solid recruit in this signing. He praised Deiss' defensive skill, leadership and work ethic.

"He was a great kid to work with," Condra said. "He allowed us to do a lot of different things on defense. Knowing that he was back there, if (the other team) broke something, he was able to come and fill the hole fast. He just kept getting better and better in his years here and really finished up strong.

"He's just a great teammate. He really helped everybody out there. As far as our secondary goes, he was kind of the quarterback out there and made sure everybody lined up right."

Condra spoke with pride of Deiss' decision and expressed confidence in the defensive standout.

"Thad was a great team player and a great leader for us," Condra said. "A lot of the kids look up to him. He's a true Ricebird and I think he's going to do El Campo proud on the next level."