TACOMA, Wash. - It has been a season of changes for the Pacific Lutheran University football team. From a new Head Coach in Brant McAdams to new schemes both offensively and defensively, to new helmets. Among the sea of change, one constant has been the man in the press box at Sparks Stadium in play-by-play broadcaster Steve Thomas.  
 
A mainstay on the airwaves and now the webstream, Thomas has covered games under three different head coaches since calling his first Lute game in 1978.
 
"I was working for KTNT, a radio stadium in Tacoma that at the time was associated with the News Tribune. We had a meeting with (Athletic Director) Dr. Dave Olson and (Sports Information Director) Jim Kittilsby and were interested in picking up the games on the radio so that's how it all got started."
 
That season was the seventh under legendary Head Coach Frosty Westering, and the beginning of the Lutes' run that would include winning four national championships. 
 
"That was really a turning point for the program. Frosty had been there just a few years at that point and had really just turned the corner, building up his team. They really started to have some success at that time."
 
That success included making the NAIA Division II playoffs for the first time in 1979 and hoisting the first of those four national championships in 1980. 
 
"I was very fortunate to be around Frosty's first national championship team in 1980. That was a great run. They played three playoff games, all at home at the Lincoln Bowl in Tacoma. There was a lot of excitement and it really was a stepping stone for not only the football program but the athletic program in general, stepping into the limelight against team's from across the country."
 
Thomas would call games for the Lutes, both home and away, through the 1982 season. That stretch saw the Lutes win 42 of their 51 games played and making the NAIA playoffs in three of the five seasons. 
 
Thomas departed for Seattle after the 1982 season, working for KIRO Radio and serving on broadcasts for the National Football League's Seattle Seahawks before returning back to Tacoma in 1999. 
 
"I was in Seattle until 1999 when I came back and boy, talk about timing." 
 
The Lutes, just in their second year as a member of NCAA Division III, captured the program's fourth national championship that season, winning five consecutive road games on the way to claiming the title.  
 
"That was a year unlike any other. The team was on the road five consecutive weeks and so was I. It was kind of a scramble in a way but it was so much fun and the team was such an enjoyable group to be around. It was really a highlight of my broadcast career."
 
Thomas has remained a fixture up in the booth since with 2018 marking his 20^thconsecutive season.
 
"I've really enjoyed it since that time too. There have been some ups and downs but it's always been an enjoyable time and I have the utmost admiration for the way Frosty, Scott (Westering), and now Brant have continued some traditions and added their own ingenuity to things and put their own stamp on the program." 
 
"It's really been exciting and a blessing for me to be around the program for so long. The thing that has been a constant is the type of kid the program develops and how they treat people. The way those guys come out of the program and have success in business or teaching or computer science or whatever it may be, they're well prepared for life. They know how to communicate with people and really be giving to one another. Not just to teammates but to people they meet and its really remarkable the people that come out of the PLU program."
 
More than just serving as a voice on broadcasts, Thomas has served as a mentor to several students who have been his broadcast partner over the years.
 
"Steve is one of the kindest, most humble person I've ever had the pleasure of working with," said former basketball student-athlete Dylan Foreman '18. "Obviously Steve is a legend in the broadcast industry for not only his coverage of PLU sports over the years but the Seahawks as well. So to have gotten to work with him on a handful of games was truly one of the best learning experiences for me."
 
Foreman served as the color commentator alongside Thomas during the 2017 season and upon graduation has continued to use what he learned in the booth, landing media positions with both ROOT Sports and the Seattle Mariners.  
 
"Not many people who are as professional and acclaimed as him would be on-board with sharing the broadcast with a student, but Steve was more than gracious with his time in helping me learn what it took to be a sports broadcaster. All the preparation that goes into something like a football game was something he taught me countless times as we got ready to do football games. Some of the best experiences in sports media so far were calling games with the legendary Steve Thomas."

Christian Bond '18, who worked the 2016 gridiron season with Thomas and currently serves as a graduate assistant in the athletic communications office at Central Washington University, echoed Foreman's comments.

"Getting to work with Steve exposed me to the preparation it takes to put together a quality broadcast. There is never a wasted word with Steve. Simply knowing Steve opened opportunities for me in broadcasting around the Puget Sound. I'm thankful for my time spent with him in a PLU broadcast booth."