Mangum Enters Seventh College Season Driven By The Loss Of His Father
By Joey Johnston
Incredibly, it's the seventh season of college football for USF defensive lineman Thad Mangum. Five years at Wofford College, including a redshirt season when he tore his meniscus. After entering the transfer portal, there was last season at USF. And now the extra COVID year.
"Man, I'm old,'' said Mangum, 24, with a laugh. "I feel like the father figure on this team. I need to be a leader. But it's not about me. I have to carry myself in the best possible way so the young guys can see. I have to set an example. That's what good fathers do.''
The terrible call came last March 21, a Sunday. Mangum was in Tampa, days away from USF's spring game. It didn't seem real when his family in Piedmont, S.C., relayed the news. George Mangum — not just a good father, but a great one — had passed away outside an Osceola, Iowa convenience store.
The father was an independent truck driver, hauling merchandise from state to state. The hours were long, but he was never lonely. Instead of listening to music or talk radio, he used the time for phone conversations, catching up with friends, chatting with his four kids, sometimes brightening someone else's day, certainly spreading his faith.
He generally scheduled the workload around his kids' games and events. Already, he was planning the trips to Tampa for Thad's senior season. He couldn't wait for that.
Greenville police arrived at the Mangum home that Sunday morning. "They knocked on my door,'' said Valerie Mangum, a retired schoolteacher, Thad's mother. "I don't ever want to have a knock on my door again.''
The autopsy showed that George Mangum, perfectly healthy before, had a blood clot in his lungs. After exiting the store, where he was beginning the final part of his journey before returning home, he collapsed before climbing back into the rig.
"I've been trying to help out back home, make sure everybody was taken care of and happy, look out for my mom,'' said Mangum, 6-foot-2, 285 pounds. "When I wake up every single day, I think about my dad. I want him to know that I watched him, learned from him and want to be like him.
"He helped everyone. He wanted the best for every person he interacted with. I thought he was hard on me early on, then he pulled back and got softer. By then, I think he knew that I was on a good path. Basically, if a camera is ever on me, I want to be doing something that's respectable and presentable to my parents. That's my dad's influence.''
Bulls defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer can sense that solid upbringing.
"Thad is one of those rocks,'' Spencer said. "He's a locker-room champ. He doesn't have to open his mouth because everybody knows what he stands for, how he's going to conduct his business.
"I had to call Thad out in a team setting (during fall camp) because of a mental error. When I was correcting him, I could just feel him taking it personally. I have all the confidence it won't happen again. He's one of my pillars on defense, an authentic tough guy. He's one of those bell-cows I know I can count on year-round. He's a football player.''
Strangely, Mangum wasn't a football player until his junior season at Christ Church Episcopal School, which had 55 straight victories and four consecutive state championships from 2011-14.
Before that, he was a 270-pound point guard in basketball, his first love, but his size made it inevitable that he would ultimately come out for football. Along with the massive frame, there was ridiculous agility for a big man. At age 9, Mangum won the AAU Junior Olympics in karate, then became a black belt one year later.
"It does translate to football — the mental strength, the discipline, the quick hands and feet, the ability to protect yourself and basically put somebody else on the ground,'' Mangum said. "Football just came a little later for me than most kids my size.''
After two spectacular high-school seasons, which included 50 tackles for a loss, Mangum signed with Wofford University, primarily so his parents could drive to the games. Don Frost, his high-school coach, said Mangum was "the best I've coached in 35 years, academically and athletically.'' At Wofford, his teams made three NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoff appearances and he earned second-team All-Southern Conference honors.
But after his 2019 knee injury, with his sociology degree already secured, he wanted a new destination and a high-level master's program. He found USF. Or maybe USF coach Jeff Scott, who had coached nearby at Clemson University, found him. Regardless, it has worked well.
"Thad is a very determined person,'' Mangum's mother said. "Whatever he puts his mind to, he's going to do it. He has a personality like mine — driven, outgoing, goal-oriented.
"But he's the spitting image of his daddy. They have the same face. My husband was a talker. He never met a stranger. He never had a bad day, so optimistic all the time. I see that in Thad, too.''
Sometimes, Mangum will think about his final football season and be sad because his father can't be there. But in every possible way, he will be there. Mangum will play for both of them.
"This has been hard on all of us,'' Mangum's mother said. "George believed in God. I know where he is. He's in a better place. That gives me peace. I know I have to carry on, be strong for my kids.
"I think Thad has that same mindset. He's thinking about how others feel. He is stepping up and being very responsible. He has taken on a man's mentality.''
Mangum wants to know that his mother and younger siblings — brother Noah (a football player at Presbyterian College), brother Urijan (a track and field athlete at USC-Upstate) and sister A'leah (a high-school student) — are all doing well.
The family gathered in June at the cemetery for what would've been George's 60th birthday. They released some balloons into a cloudless sky, then returned home for cake and ice cream.
"I'm away at school, but however I can, I want to take a load of my mom and my family,'' said Mangum, who hopes for an NFL opportunity but knows that his master's in entrepreneurship and applied technologies will provide a professional foundation. "God first, family second, football after that. That's how my dad taught me how to live. My goal is to be that person for the rest of my life. I want to be the right kind of example.''
Because that's what good fathers do.
