Thomas Wilcher

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Thomas Wilcher
No. 27
Career information
All-American (1985, 1986)
Indoor Track All-American (1986)
Michigan High School Track and Cross Country Athlete of the Year (1981, 1982)
Detroit Free Press Coach of the Year (1998)
RecordsMichigan Wolverines All-time Records

60-meter High Hurdles
(1986–)
110 m hurdles
(1985–)

Michigan Home Building Record
60-meter High Hurdles (1986–)

MHSAA All-time Records

110 m hurdles
(1981–1986)

110 m hurdles (Championship meet) (1982–)
Thomas Wilcher
Medal record
Representing Michigan Wolverines/Big Ten
NCAA Outdoor Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1985 Austin 110m hurdles
NCAA Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place 1986 Oklahoma City 55m hurdles
By race
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
55m hurdles 1 0 0
110m hurdles 0 0 1
Total 1 0 1
By event
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
NCAA Outdoor Championships 0 0 1
NCAA Indoor Championships 1 0 0
Total 1 0 1

Thomas Wilcher is a college football administrator for

1987 NFL Draft
.

In high school, Wilcher was a Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) record-setting hurdler and four-time All-American. As an athlete, he is a ten-time MHSAA track and field champion and a two-time Michigan High School Track and Cross Country Athlete of the Year award winner.[1] He was also a Junior Olympics champion in the 110 m hurdles and an All-state and All-American tailback in football.[1][2][3][4] He was also an All-City swimmer.[4]

As of 2017, Wilcher is the head coach for the football team and the boys' track & field team as well as the physical education teacher at Cass Technical High School in Detroit. As a boys' track coach, he is a three-time MHSAA team track and field champion, and his school has also twice been the MHSAA runner up.[5] In his role as a football coach, he is a three-time MHSAA Division 1 champion and a former Detroit Free Press Coach of the Year who has produced five players who have been selected in the NFL draft.

High school

At

110 metre hurdles was the state all class record from 1981–1986 and continues to be tied for the second fastest time in state high school history.[7] His 1982 time of 13.6 seconds continues to be the fastest 110 meter hurdles time ever run at the MHSAA state championship meet.[8] Although not officially recognized as a record due to metric conversions from yards to meters, the 1982 time of 41.7 in the 4 × 100 is considered indistinguishable from the official record and is described as a notable performance according to state records.[8]

Nationally, he was the number one ranked scholastic high hurdler as a junior as well as the number one ranked long (low) hurdler as a senior and was undefeated by high school athletes in both years in the respective events. As a junior, he won the 1981 AAU Junior Olympic Games in the high hurdles (By some accounts he was an AAU Junior champion in 1982).[3] As a senior, he won the International Prep and Golden West low hurdle races. He was timed as fast as 13.48 seconds and 13.28 (wind-aided).[1] In addition to his track accolades, he was an All-state and All-American tailback and All-City swimmer.[3][4]

Some sources regard his 13.2 time in the 1982 AAU Junior Olympic Men 110 Meter Hurdles Young event a national record as of May 2013.[4] As of 2009, the AAU considered it to be the national record.[9] However, as of 2013, AAU regarded Booker Nunley's July 27, 2008 13.41 time to be the junior Olympic record for the newly named 17-18 division (which was said to be formerly known as the Young division).[10]

College

Wilcher was recruited to the

110 m hurdles with a time of 13.57,[14] earning both indoor and outdoor track & field All-American honors. He had also placed third in the outdoor 110m hurdles in 1985 earning All-American honors. In 1987, he was the outdoor Big Ten Conference 110 meter hurdles champion and earned first team All-Big Ten honors.[12] Wilcher holds numerous Michigan Wolverines records in the high hurdles including both the team indoor 60 meters (converted), team outdoor 110 meters, and Michigan indoor track building records.[15] Wilcher's personal best and team record time of 13.52 seconds in the 110 meter hurdles came at the 1985 Penn Relays where he was also the event champion.[16] He was the Big Ten winter sports athlete of the week in January 1986 for his hurdling performance.[17]

In February 1985, Wilcher was involved in an altercation stemming from an intramural basketball game. Thomas Wilcher incurred penalties of 72 hours of public service deferred sentence,

US$429 court costs and restitution in Ann Arbor District Court.[18][19]

Wilcher, who wore #27 as a 6-foot (1.8 m) 185-pound (84 kg; 13.2 st) Wolverine,

Rose Bowl, but accumulated no statistics in the Rose Bowl. He accumulated statistics in eleven of the thirteen games played and started twice.[21][22] He had also started one game in 1985.[23] In his best games, he rushed for 104 yards (95 m) and a touchdown on 16 carries in a 34–3 win against the South Carolina Gamecocks football team on September 21, 1985,[24] and he rushed for two touchdowns and 74 yards (68 m) in Morris' absence in a 34–17 win against the Wisconsin Badgers football team on October 4, 1986.[25] His touchdowns were the first two in what became Schembechler's 200th victory.[26] On September 27, 1986, his seven-yard (6 m) touchdown run cemented a homecoming victory against the Florida State Seminoles football team by putting the team up 20–10 with 1:27 remaining.[27]

A ninth round selection,

Greg Foster who placed first, second and third respectively as well as Tony Dees.[31]

Coaching

High School

Wilcher is the former football head coach at Cass Technical High School in Detroit, where entering the 2011 MHSAA semifinals, the team had compiled a 99–56 (.639) record and competed in the MHSAA Class-A playoffs ten times since he became head coach in 1997.

Detroit News' No. 1 Blue Chip Prospect, Parade All-American, U.S. Army All-American Bowl Participant (East Roster), USA Today All-USA High School First Team, The ESPN.com 150, Rivals.com Top 100 for 2007, Scout.com Hot 100 for 2007, and SuperPrep All-American.[38] William Campbell also made the NFL.[39]

The 2010 team went 12–1 and lost 24–21 in the MHSAA Division I semifinals, when they fumbled on the 6-yard line on second-and-4 with less than a minute remaining.

NFL players Jourdan Lewis and Lano Hill.[46] In 2013, Detroit Catholic Central upset Cass Tech in the state semifinals by a 28–0 score.[47] The following year, Saline High School upset Cass Tech in the 2014 state semifinals 30–15.[48][49] In 2015, Cass tech reached the 2015 MHSAA Division 1 state final game at Ford Field, but lost to Romeo High School after losing starting quarterback Rodney Hall earlier in the playoffs.[50] In 2016 with Hall at quarterback, Cass Tech went undefeated to win the MHSAA Division 1 state championship over Detroit Catholic again.[51][52] In 2017, Cass Tech lost to West Bloomfield High School in the MHSAA Division I semifinals.[53]

Wilcher is also the Cass boys' track and field coach. The team won the MHSAA Class A track and field championships in 1994, 1995, and 1996 under Wilcher. The team was state runner up in the MHSAA

Lower Peninsula Division 1 Championships in 2001 and 2002.[5]
Among the track athletes he has trained are NCAA All-American Pierre Vinson, and current Michigan Wolverine, Nick McCampbell.

NFL draftees

Cass Tech's 8 NFL draftees between 2006 and 2021 was the most by any school in the state.[54]

Year Rnd. Pick # NFL team Player Pos. College Conf.
2008
 1 6 New York Jets Vernon Gholston DE Ohio State Big Ten
2011
 3 92 Oakland Raiders
Joseph Barksdale
 OT LSU SEC
2013
 6 178 New York Jets William Campbell
G
 Michigan Big Ten
2017
 3 92 Dallas Cowboys Jourdan Lewis CB Michigan Big Ten
2017
 3 95 Seattle Seahawks Lano Hill S Michigan Big Ten
2019
 7 218 Dallas Cowboys Mike Weber RB Ohio State Big Ten
2020
 6 182 New England Patriots Michael Onwenu G Michigan Big Ten
2020
 6 187 Cleveland Browns Donovan Peoples-Jones WR Michigan Big Ten

Vernon Gholston

2008 NFL Draft.[57] According to Gholston, "It was between periods and I was going to my next class. . . .He thought I was actually somebody’s father walking down the hall. He asked me whom was I looking for. I was like, 'Nobody. I go here.' He really couldn't believe it. He kind of grabbed me at that point and put me on the team."[35]

A similar, although more indepth, story of the recruitment of Gholston has been told by Wilcher: "He was walking down the hall with a

bodybuilder). I asked him, 'Can I help you sir?' He looked around to see who I was talking to. I said, 'Are you looking for a student?' He said, 'No, I go here.' He said he was a freshman. I thought he was lying." When the defensive coordinator kicked Gholston off the team for being too soft, Wilcher went to his house and dragged him back into the program: "I told him I didn't care if he wasn't tough enough, he was going to play football for me," Wilcher said. "I knew that he had desire to play. My only regret is that I didn't put him at running back. I didn't know how fast he was."[55]

Michigan State University

In 2021, Wilcher accepted an off-field position on the staff of Michigan State Spartans football as the Director of Community and High School Relations.[54]

Head coaching record

Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Cass Tech Technicians (Detroit Public School League - Division I) (1997–2011)
1997 Cass Tech 7–3 4–1 Class AA Pre-Regional
1998 Cass Tech 7–2 4–1 Division I District
1999 Cass Tech 7–2 4–1 Division I District
2000 Cass Tech 9–3 3–2 Division I Regional
2001 Cass Tech 5–5 3–2
2002 Cass Tech 5–4 3–2
2003 Cass Tech 6–4 3–2 Division I Pre-District
2004 Cass Tech 4–5 2–3
2005 Cass Tech 2–7 1–4
2006 Cass Tech 7–4 3–2 Division I District
2007 Cass Tech 5–4 1–3
2008 Cass Tech 8–3 3–1 Division I District
2009 Cass Tech 6–4 2–2 Division I District
2010 Cass Tech 12–1 4–0 Division I Semifinal
2011 Cass Tech 11–3 5–1 Won Division 1 State Championship
Cass Tech Technicians (Detroit Public School League - West) (2012–present)
2012 Cass Tech 12–2 6–0 Won Division 1 State Championship
2013 Cass Tech 12–1 – Division I Semifinal
2014 Cass Tech 12–1 – Division I Semifinal
2015 Cass Tech 12–2 – Division I Runner-up
2016 Cass Tech 14–0 – Won Division 1 State Championship
2017 Cass Tech 10–3 – Division 1 State Semifinalist
Cass Tech: 173–65 51–27
Total: 173–65
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth
source:[32]

Personal

Wilcher and his wife Crystal have a son, Kishon, and daughters Kaila and Kiersten.

300 meter dash.[60]

References

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  60. ^ Anderson, Harry M. Jr. (June 10, 2012). "Cass Tech wins boys' and girls' PSL titles". The Michigan Citizen. Retrieved November 24, 2013.

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