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DOWAGIAC — Former Dowagiac Union football coach Bernard Thomas was recently recognized for the impact he left in his 16 seasons coaching the game at the prep level. 

Thomas, a Cassopolis native, was one of 14 individuals inducted into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame during ceremonies held at its annual Awards Banquet held on Friday, June 20 in Southfield. 

After serving three seasons as a varsity assistant at Dowagiac under Denny Dock, Thomas took over as the Chieftains’ head coach after Dock departed to become Stevensville-Lakeshore’s varsity mentor. Thomas piloted Dowagiac’s program from 1988-2002 compiling an overall win-loss mark of 117-39. His 1990 Chieftains’ squad captured the Class BB state championship with a 35-14 win over Oxford at the Pontiac Silverdome. 

Seven years after retiring as Dowagiac’s coach, Thomas returned to the field to coach his alma-mater and guide Cassopolis to a record of 14-6 and two consecutive playoff appearances in the 2010 and 2011 seasons before hanging up his whistle for good. 

“This honor was very unexpected, but one that I am very appreciative of to be included in a very select group of coaches. It’s the icing on the cake in my coaching career,” Thomas said.

But Thomas quickly pointed out that he couldn’t have enjoyed the success he did, especially during his tenure in Dowagiac without the incredible support he received from the school administration, community, coaching staff, parents and the effort put forth on the field by each of his players.

“The support I received from the administrators, our athletic directors, community and parents was tremendous. This is more of an award for the community of Dowagiac. Much of the credit goes to the kids that played for me too,” Thomas said.

While every team Thomas coached was special to him, the 1990 squad is a team that really stands out. Dowagiac finished 12-1 that season, the Chieftains’ lone loss came to Lakeshore 17-7 in the season’s second week. The Chieftains reeled off 11 consecutive victories and outscored its opponents 574-85 that year. 

“That team had real good senior leadership. They were a very intelligent and determined group of individuals and several of them went on to become dentists, doctors or successful businessmen,” Thomas recalls.

Greg Younger, Thomas’ starting quarterback on the 1990 title team, went on to become Dowagiac’s AD and currently serves in the same role at Lakeshore. Thomas also coached standouts such as Brent Lesniak and Jamie White, both of whom went on to play at the collegiate level.

Thomas’ 1997 Dowagiac team went undefeated before losing a 28-19 decision to Kingsford in the 1996 state Class BB semifinals. That Chieftains squad finished 11-1.

Before teams automatically qualified for the postseason with at least six wins, Thomas had four 8-1 Dowagiac teams that didn’t qualify for the postseason under the old system. 

Thomas recalls a game Dowagiac played in Bowling Green, OH during the 1996 as one of his most memorable. 

“Our success in football got us kicked out of the conference for a couple years so we competed as an Independent. Bob Follett was our AD at the time and he scheduled a game at Bowling Green, OH. We didn’t know anything about them because their head coach refused to exchange game films. We beat them 38-26 and that loss kept them out of the Ohio playoffs and helped us qualify for the postseason here. After the game I made eye contact with their head coach as we were getting on the bus so I yelled out, thanks for the game tape coach,” Thomas laughed as he recalled the circumstances surrounding that matchup.

Thomas included the tale of that game during his acceptance speech at the Induction Ceremony. 

The old rivalry games against Three Rivers and Lakeshore are another big memory that Thomas will remember most from his coaching career. 

“Those games were something really special. You would easily see five or six thousand people at those games. Southwestern Michigan used to have some great football rivalries,” Thomas recalled. 

Thomas, a former middle school social studies instructor at Dowagiac, says his coaching philosophy was based on the Golden Rule of being firm, but fair.

“I always tried to get our kids into the best positions that would help the team the most. I’m very proud of the attitude we were able to instill in our players to always battle until the final whistle,” Thomas said.

Besides Thomas, the rest of the 2025 MHSFCA Induction Class includes Mike Berutti (West Iron County), Richard J. Corset (Jackson Lumen Christi), William E. Dunn II (Saugatuck), Don Galster (Wyoming Kelloggsville), Jason McIntyre (Mount Pleasant), Gregory A. Morrison (Jonesville), Tim Parker (Muskegon Oakridge), David Richard (Hudson), Glen Samson (Mendon), Jim Sparks (Clawson), Foud ‘Walker’ Zaban (Deaborn Fordson), Dave Hills (Boyne City) and Les Therrian (St. Ignace).