Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Thomas Castellanos was on a mission. As the quarterback for Ware County High School in Georgia, he was set to play Warner Robins, the No. 1 team in the region. As a freshman, Castellanos’ team suffered a 35-0 loss. He was taunted throughout the game, as chants of “Thom-as” rang out along the Warner Robins bench. He didn’t say a word that night.

Fast forward three years, Castellanos was playing with confidence as a senior. During pregame warmups, he waved at the Warner Robins bench. He stuck up four fingers at the opposing defensive coordinator, representing the 400 yards he planned to rack up. The team laughed it off as nothing more than hubris. Then, he accomplished it in the first half. Ware County won 29-21, handing Warner Robins its only loss in a 14-1 state championship campaign.

“I’ve seen the likes of Jake Fromm … Nick Marshall,” former Warner Robins head coach Marquis Westbrook said, “and Thomas is right up there, man. That kid is special.”

Now a junior at Boston College, Castellanos has emerged as a star quarterback for the Eagles. Throughout seven games this season, he has passed for 1,352 yards and 17 touchdowns, accumulating a 168.0 passer rating — the seventh-best in the country among qualified signal callers. The mark would be the best in BC’s history, surpassing Doug Flutie’s 152.9 passer rating from 1984. Castellanos and the Eagles host Syracuse Saturday in a pivotal Atlantic Coast Conference matchup.

Castellanos has already broken several records in his 19 games with the Eagles, including a program-record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 1,317. Additionally, it took him just one season to break BC’s record for career quarterback rushing touchdowns, as his 13 scores in 2023 surpassed Jack Concannon’s 12 from 1963.

Long before he was surpassing every Boston College quarterback record, “Tommy Touchdown” was a kid from Miami, living under the shadow of his siblings.

Castellanos was the eighth of 11 children in his family. His father died when he was 3, leaving his mother, Yukia, to care for 11 children as a single nurse. Castellanos told Boston.com that he credits her strength in providing for the family, alongside the guidance of the rest of his siblings, as contributing factors to his success.

Early in his childhood, Castellanos was overshadowed by his older brothers, Akeem Jones and Ladedric Castellanos. Jones was a star quarterback at Miami Carol City High School, earning a three-star rating from 247Sports before attending Garden City Community College in Kansas. Meanwhile, Ladedric was a first-team All-Region safety at Ware County, continuing his career at Division II Morehouse College in Georgia.

Cole Ross | Digital Design Director

As his oldest brother, Jones was instrumental in his development. When Castellanos moved to Waycross, Georgia, before attending Ware County, Jones watched as his little brother terrorized opposing defenses.

“You always had to have someone to try to spy him,” Westbrook said. “And if you did that, you left your hole players or one of your corners on an island. You had to pick your poison.”

A four-year varsity starter, Castellanos went 35-12 at Ware County. In that span, he racked up 7,710 passing yards, 3,658 rushing yards, 66 passing touchdowns and 69 rushing touchdowns. He also played basketball and soccer, with his athleticism standing out across all three sports. Castellanos became a three-star recruit, landing offers from Division I schools including Florida State, Kansas and UCF.

“Thomas is definitely the best player I’ve played with so far,” former Ware County receiver Jarvis Hayes said. “What sets him apart from other quarterbacks I’ve played with is his versatility. He can do it all.”

Castellanos ultimately committed to UCF on Dec. 15, a month after his senior season ended. He was prepared to celebrate with his family, and with Christmas approaching, it was supposed to be one of the best periods of the young quarterback’s life.

But roughly two weeks after he committed, Jones unexpectedly died. Castellanos felt isolated and dejected entering his first year in college.

In his freshman year at Central Florida, he saw limited action as the Knights’ third-string quarterback. Buried on the depth chart, Castellanos couldn’t foresee a path to playing time. So, he bet on himself and entered the transfer portal in April.

His athleticism immediately stood out to Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, who was BC’s head coach at the time. He saw the 5-foot-10 passer as the future of his program, and he got Castellanos to commit just 10 days after entering the portal. When Hafley left the program following the 2023 season, he was replaced by former NFL head coach Bill O’Brien, who is similarly impressed by Castellanos’ athleticism.

“Having Tommy here has been great,” O’Brien said. “Tommy’s a fun guy to coach, shows up every day and has tried to get better each and every day.”

It was initially a rough adjustment for Castellanos, who had lived in the South his entire life before moving to Massachusetts. Coming out of training camp in 2023, he failed to win the job over Emmett Morehead, who started the Eagles’ home opener against Northern Illinois.

But against the Huskies, Morehead was ineffective, completing just 3-of-10 passes in the game. Castellanos then led a late comeback in relief, and despite eventually losing in overtime, he earned the starting job.

He never relinquished it. Now, he’s the leader of a program that has lacked consistency under center since four-time NFL Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Ryan starred at BC from 2004-07.

Published on November 6, 2024 at 11:55 pm

mjpalmar@syr.edu