Coach Thomas started wrestling as a Chagrin Falls Tiger coached by, Ohio legend, Jim Hoppel. He wrestled 2 seasons as a Franklin College Grizzly, Indiana before graduating and moving to Bradenton, Florida. In 1978 he landed at Southeast High School as a Social Studies teacher and assistant wrestling coach. It was the start of a 35 year career in education and 32 of those years coaching the Seminoles. His teams won 5 Manatee County Championships, 2 District Championships, 1 Region Championship ,a 1993 State runner-up and 5 other top 10 finishes. In 32 years Bob had 68 District Champions, 18 Region Champions, 67 state qualifiers, 27 state placers, 4 champions and two High School All Americans. In 1992 he introduced a "pool" wrestling format for local JV teams to increase mat time. Athletes had multiple matches with no forfeits. It caught on state wide. Coach serves the Florida Board as Media Services Director in 2024.