Thomas Buckmiller still recalls his first varsity game.

Coronado’s football team faced Rampart in its 2023 season opener and Buckmiller, then a sophomore, was QB2 behind Jaxon Gutowski. That was until Gutowski injured his ankle during a second quarter red-zone drive. 

Buckmiller rose from the bench and trotted to the field with chants of “TB12” pouring in from the Cougars’ fan section. No, NFL hall of famer Tom Brady didn’t venture to the field, but Buckmiller, who also wears No. 12, aimed to dazzle the audience despite his nerves. 

“I was literally shaking,” Buckmiller said. “I learned to grow in that moment because I can’t be shaken when I’m starting all 10 games. Confidence is my biggest thing, not just in my abilities, but my team’s abilities and the faith I have in God to put me in the right position whenever I need to be there.” 

That seed planted as a sophomore blossomed into a prosperous senior year for Buckmiller, who earned Peak Performer honors for 3A-1A football. 

In 11 games, the Cougars quarterback finished 213-of-308 passing for 3,540 yards, 42 touchdowns and nine interceptions. In eight of those games, Buckmiller had a completion percentage of 66.7% or better. Including his junior campaign, Buckmiller threw touchdowns in 20 of his final 21 contests. This was a favorable conclusion to a brilliant career considering Buckmiller’s first two years at Coronado.

The Cougars had back-to-back 0-10 seasons in Buckmiller’s freshman and sophomore years, but the senior QB’s confidence never wavered. 

“I wasn’t going to let two poor years of football define my four years,” Buckmiller said. “Mathematically, that doesn’t make sense. As someone who loves the game, it doesn’t make sense to lay down like that. Our ability to keep the inside noise inside and the outside noise out was important. That helped me keep my nose to the grindstone and push beyond what people thought and the expectations that people had of us.” 

Buckmiller had a respectable junior season where he finished 148-of-281passing for 2,167 yards, 22 touchdowns with eight interceptions and a .527 passing percentage. 

Buckmiller said coach Rob Leboeuf honed his mentality and highlighted the importance of “process over prize.” 

“He would constantly preach that to us … he also told us about a book called ‘(Locked In) The Mental Approach to Baseball: (A Players Guide)’ and that helped me understand how valuable the process was,” Buckmiller said. “The process teaches you everything along the way and the results are the cherry on top. You should love the process more than you do results.”

Leboeuf, who previously coached at Harrison and took the reins of the Cougars’ program in 2024, lavished Buckmiller’s approach to the game and said, “We’re not just losing a quarterback, we’re losing an offensive coordinator.” That’s high praise coming from Leboeuf. 

In the late 2000s, Leboeuf coached Joel Stave at Whitnall High School in Greenfield, Wisconsin. Stave played collegiately at University of Wisconsin, is the Badgers’ second all-time leader in career passing yards at 7,635 and had a brief stint in the NFL. 

“Have I coached a kid like (Buckmiller) before? Yeah,” Leboeuf said. “But if I’m comparing Tommy to Joel, Joel had the frame and work ethic and was super smart. But in a lot of ways, (Buckmiller) is better in terms of his development and knowledge of the game of football compared to where Joel was as a senior. … Joel loved competing and he was an athlete, but Tommy loves football and can’t get enough of it.” 

Last summer, Buckmiller said the team held 6 a.m. workouts and “trained three to four times per day.” Conditioning and weight training would follow with passing and route-running drills shortly after practice or later in the afternoon. 

Buckmiller, Lyrik Smith, Collin Wolf and various other Cougars remained at the facility and completed different drills throughout the week. 

That routine created a sturdy foundation, trust in teammates and eliminated the mindset of a team that dropped 27 consecutive games in a three-season span. 

“We’ve always told them failure is just an outcome and never a person. Never,” Leboeuf said. “Just because they went 0-27 or whatever it was … you might view that as a failure, but that’s an outcome. The outcome is a failure, but you’re not. That holds true in life: You’re going to fail more times than you’re going to be successful in life. Now, if you don’t like your outcome, adjust your approach.”

The Cougars began 2025 with a 1-1 record and lost 42-39 to Lewis-Palmer on a game-winning field goal.  

In Buckmiller’s eyes, he needed to be better. His stat line in the loss: 22-of-33 passing, a career-high 520 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. 

“When you play quarterback, you’re either everyone’s favorite or the worst player on the field,” Buckmiller said. “It’s all dependent on the game performance. You can go for four touchdowns and 300 yards, but if you lose, you didn’t play well enough. … I’m a gunslinger and I can sling the pill and people’s expectations of me shouldn’t waver based on performance. The practice I put in during the offseason showed me I could always do better.” 

After Leboeuf crunched the numbers and texted Buckmiller his stats from the Lewis-Palmer game, the Cougars coach said Buckmiller’s response was: “I felt like I sold in the fourth quarter. I’ll do better next week.” 

At the time, Leboeuf’s response to himself was “You’re going to do better next week?”

“Tommy was certainly capable, but it’s hard to beat that sort of performance,” Leboeuf said through a laugh. 

Buckmiller kept his word. Coronado faced Cheyenne Mountain in its third game and, albeit in a 61-54 loss, the Cougars trailed 35-12 at halftime, but Buckmiller nearly completed the comeback.

He finished 30-of-42 passing and had career highs in passing yards (558), touchdowns (eight) and threw no interceptions.

Buckmiller’s 558 yards are 14th all-time in Colorado High School Activities Association’s single-game record book and his eight touchdowns are tied for sixth. 

“I don’t know if I’ve seen a passing performance like the one he had against L-P, then he goes out and does what he does against Cheyenne Mountain,” Leboeuf said. “That two-game stretch he had almost 1,200 yards passing, (12) touchdowns and one interception. It’s crazy.”

The Cougars, who finished 7-4 — their best finish since 2013 when they went 13-1 and won the 3A state title — didn’t drop consecutive games the remainder of the season. 

Buckmiller helped Coronado reach the playoffs for the first time since 2014 and wrapped his senior campaign second in the state in passing yards. 

The Cougars’ season ended with a first-round playoff loss to eventual 3A state champion Pomona. However, Buckmiller said he’s proud of the Cougars’ accomplishments that evolved from his freshman year to the team’s final snap.

“When there’s no one in the stands, it’s hard to be motivated,” Buckmiller said. “When you have your teammates next to you and motivating you, knowing they have your back and you have theirs, that’s one of the most amazing things about football.”