Los Angeles Valley LB Chad Thornton Discusses Commitment to Indiana State

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

The college football path for linebacker Chad Thornton was never easy and never a clear-cut road forward. The 6’1”, 220-230 pound, Virginia native started ringing bells at Battlefield High School in Virginia then took his talents to Globe Tech in New York, followed by Los Angeles Valley College, and now, as fate would have it, Indiana State.

Thornton’s move to Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley was a fortuitous one, Globe Tech also had a great season in 2015, but the move worked well finishing with 50 tackles, five tackles for a loss, a forced fumble, and a pass breakup on a stacked 9-2 team. Thornton’s talent stood out picking up numerous offers and interest with a final push from Indiana State, James Madison, Charleston Southern, and Delaware.

The road is still not totally clear. Thornton has a couple of classes he has to finish to make the transfer to Indiana State complete. Showing the grit, motivation, and determination he displays on the field, he is working at a local restaurant back home in Virginia to pay his own way through the last couple of junior college courses so he can fulfill his college football dreams.

In a Recruiting News Guru truly exclusive interview, I caught up with Thornton after his official visit to Indiana State and during an unscheduled work break to get the rundown on his visit and commitment to the Sycamores.

Interview

Okay Chad, I know you’re at work, which I think is great and very admirable, so we’ll make this quick so you don’t get in trouble. Obviously the trip went well to Indiana State.

“Yeah, I really liked it out there.”

Walk me through your visit.

“When I first got there, a graduate assistant picked me up and then we went to the school. We linked up with another recruit and then sat down with the counselor to go over what we needed to do to make the transfer successful. After that, we went to the hotel. Later that night I met with my host, Jameer Thruman (linebacker), and then we met with the head coach, Coach (Mike) Sanford. Later that night I hung out with Thruman.

“The next day they took us by the basketball stadium. We checked out the dorms, cafeteria, and things like that. Then they showed us the off campus housing choices. We did more tours, saw the academic success center, and really got to see how we can plan our day once on campus. Then I met with the strength and conditioning coach and went over some of the things that they want me to do in offseason workouts. Then we went to the training center and saw all the things they had going on there.”

Wow, they really packed a lot into your visit.

“Yeah. That night we went to Coach Sanford’s house for dinner. All the coaches, the coaches’ wives, and the recruits along with their families were there. It was a really nice dinner. A big family style get together.”

I have to ask you about Larry Bird’s statue. I’m sure they showed that to you.

“That thing was huge. It was crazy tall, like 20-30 feet tall. One of the funny things they told us during the tour. I can’t remember the exact deal but Bird said he wanted his statue a foot or an inch taller than Magic Johnson’s was at Michigan State. I thought that was pretty cool. I’d do the same thing if I were him.

“Another crazy thing I learned, at the football stadium Babe Ruth played in a game there and hit a homerun out of the stadium.”

That’s interesting. That’s an old stadium too. Okay, back on point so you don’t get in trouble. When you met with the coaches, how are they going to use you in their schemes once on campus?

“They have two linebacker coaches, an outside linebacker coach, Coach (Brian) Cabral and an inside linebackers coach, Coach (Aaron) Archie. They want me to run the Will. I ran the Will at LA Valley, and I’m comfortable playing that position. They were talking about possibly playing me at the other outside linebacker position. The other side is a high stat producing position. I could do well coming off the edge, stopping the run, and dropping back into coverage. We’ll see.”

National Signing Day is coming quick. Which teams were pushing hard for you the last couple of weeks?

“JMU (James Madison), Charleston Southern, and Delaware was off and on. I had talks with Portland State but Indiana State wanted me to be there and believed in me, and I wanted to be at Indiana State.”

How did the commit go down?

“I sat down with the coaches on my final day there at around 7:30, my flight was at 8-something. We went over some things and then Coach Sanford officially offered me. I committed right on the spot.”

Did you know you were going to commit if they officially offered?

“I had a good feeling they were going to offer and I would commit. There was a good vibe with the other recruits, so yeah.

“I have to go back to work.”

Thanks Chad. Congratulations on your commitment to Indiana State and good luck.

“Thank you.”

Photo credit: Thornton family; Chad at Indiana State

Photo credit: recruitingnewsguru.com; Chad at Los Angeles Valley College.