Taking his game to next level

At BC, Claiborne grows into new role

Thomas Claiborne, in action (above) and greeting fans (below), ''has a great chance to go to the pros,'' says Boston College assistant coach Jack Bicknell Jr.

Thomas Claiborne has learned to be patient while also learning how to become a better football player.

The former Wellesley High star lineman, now in his first season as starting right guard on the Boston College squad, was too large to play Pop Warner football and too young to compete on the playgrounds near his home in Mattapan.

As an eighth-grade Metco student in Wellesley, he broke his ankle, further delaying his introduction to the sport. And because he was learning a new position in college, after BC head coach Jeff Jagodzinski pointed out his status toward the bottom of the defensive depth chart, it took the 6-foot-3, 325-pound Claiborne a year to make the transition to the offensive line.

Redshirted as a freshman at BC two years ago, the former Globe All-Scholastic and Bay State Conference All-Star began a nutrition and training regimen that helped him shed 50 pounds. It was an important first step.

"There were a lot of 6 a.m. workouts on the Stairmaster, but it was worth it," recalled Claiborne, whose father, Thomas Sr., played football for the semipro Charlestown Townies and whose older brother, David, played the sport as a Metco student at Lexington High. "But last season, there were still a few guys ahead of me on defense and Coach Jags approached me halfway through the season and said if I moved to guard, I could go from third-string on defense to a starter offensively. He also said if I worked hard, there was a chance I could get to the next level after college."

Armed with that incentive, Claiborne practiced with the Eagles' scout team and dressed for the team's final three games last season. By the spring, he was at the top of the chart at his new position.

"Thomas has done a great job," said Jack Bicknell Jr., the Eagles' assistant head coach and offensive line coach. "It wasn't the easiest thing in the world to make that transition, but we felt we had a potential exceptional offensive lineman. Thomas has improved every day, especially on pass protection. He's matured so much and plays hard on every snap."

Claiborne, whose crunching blocks are aided by exceptional lower body strength, is also listed as the Eagles' No. 2 center, and is in his sophomore year of eligibility. He showed a penchant for snapping the football over the summer and further honed the talent during BC's bye week this fall.

"He has a great chance to go to the pros," added Bicknell, a Hopkinton resident, "maybe as a center, because he has a great knack for snapping the football."

Being a pro prospect, as well as starting on a winning Division 1 program - BC was 7-3 going into yesterday's game at Wake Forest - is a far cry from Claiborne's first day of practice as a Wellesley High freshman.

"It was all brand new to me, I kind of felt like a walk-on," he said. "Even as I was developing, it wasn't the normal way to learn the game because I was being triple-teamed. But I got a lot of encouragement from my father and brother and from my high school coach, Bill Tracey.

"We still talk once in awhile and he's text-messaged me before BC games to wish me good luck. I hope to get over to the Needham-Wellesley game Thanksgiving Day after our early morning practice at BC."

Tracey recalled that Claiborne, understandably, struggled with football as a high school freshman, "but there was no doubt he had the talent and the tools. By his junior year, when the colleges were contacting him, Thomas, who was well over 300 pounds by then, was playing with discipline and playing well."

Tracey and the coaching staff also added the role of tight end to Claiborne's repertoire for the final half-dozen games of his senior year. It was a great fit.

"He became a brutal, punishing blocker at that position. He had tremendous balance and knew how to use his feet," said Tracey. "I had a feeling then he would wind up playing offense, and I know he was excited last year when he got the chance."

Claiborne, whose tickets for Boston College's home games in Chestnut Hill are shared by his mother, Carolyn, older sister, Leteya, and older brother (his dad now lives in Washington, D.C. and catches the games on TV or the Internet), said it feels like ages since he suited up at Wellesley High, where he was also a weight thrower on the track team.

"I've gone from playing in front of 300 or 400 fans to 40,000 or more," he said, "but it didn't take long to get used to that. My goal now, as Coach Bicknell says to us, is to be better than the last game and the last practice."