Tommy Varhall: Fulfilling a Family Legacy

When Tommy Varhall took to the turf at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium for the Red-White Spring Game on April 24, 2021, he did more than fulfill a lifelong dream, he continued a family legacy dating back more than 90 years.

Varhall’s great grandfather, Nicholas Warcholy, who also played lacrosse as a Terp, played halfback for Maryland in 1928 and 1929.

Although there was a 90-year gap between Varhalls playing football for Maryland, the Varhall connection to the University remained strong. Both Tommy’s father, James, and uncle, Nicky, attended the University of Maryland. 

Nicky served as a team manager for both the football and men’s basketball teams while a student at Maryland, and if you ask him about his experience he’ll start telling you a story about needing to get an extra-long bed for Tom McMillen.

Due to the family connections to the University, Tommy grew up a big Maryland fan. He specifically remembered one afternoon from his childhood that stuck out, where his family attended the Military Bowl, watching Maryland defeat East Carolina, before going to the Maryland basketball game that night. 

That day was also special to James, as he fondly remembers spending time that day with his father, Dr. Gregory Varhall, as well.

“It was the last time that I saw my dad alive,” James said. “He passed away a few years later. That was the last time we got to hang out and do stuff. And it was at a Maryland game and we went to the bowl and I know he had an issue with his leg, but man, he walked all the way into the Military Bowl, walked back out, and then we didn't know where to park at the new XFINITY Center but he walked around anyway. He was a trooper, and that was our Maryland day. He even had a Maryland flag flowing out in front of his house when we got there.”

The strong father-son connection James saw that day exemplifies what the University of Maryland means to the family. While attending the University, James rushed the same fraternity as his grandfather, with his father helping build him a pledge paddle. 

“It was great, you know, just living out my childhood dream of playing college football, and at my dream school,” Tommy said. 

Tommy’s path to Maryland was an unorthodox one. He grew up playing three sports as a kid, first playing football in second grade. It was not until high school that everything began to click and he started taking football more seriously. Tommy began getting recruited during his junior season, reaching out and speaking with the Maryland coaching staff. 

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily halted the recruitment process but also saw Tommy announce his transfer to IMG Academy from Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park, Kansas.

During his senior season against increased competition, Tommy began to get back in contact with the Maryland coaching staff, eventually getting a preferred walk-on offer from the Terps. 

“My first reaction [to the offer] was, I kind of had a sense that all my hard work was going to pay off and everything,” Tommy said. “So when I got out [of school], I was just relieved because I knew that this is where I wanted to go. So the first thing I did was, I went outside and then called my dad and told him. And he said he was super happy and everything. I just knew it was where I wanted to be, with the family environment and then obviously to go out and compete for a Big Ten Championship, that's all I really have wanted.”

The moment was not just special for Tommy, rather it was for the entire family.

“There were tears in our family,” James said. “I tell you what, we were just so elated and my wife and I were just beyond ourselves here. It's kind of funny even taking it a couple months back when we heard Maryland was talking to him, I think there were tears for us.”

Despite Tommy having enrolled in January, there are times when it all still doesn’t feel real for the Varhalls. James said when he saw Tommy playing during the Spring Game, he thought about pinching himself to make sure it was happening. James also remarked that he was lucky to have sunglasses on because he may or may not have had something in his eye. 

The family made sure to get as many photos and videos as possible, and James has a video of Tommy’s first play from scrimmage saved on his desktop.

Growing up, neither James nor Tommy knew much about Nicholas’ playing days at Maryland. To fix that, James did some digging, finding old newspaper clips about his grandfather’s playing days at Maryland, learning about his family, and teaching it to Tommy at the same time.

Even though the sport of football itself looked a lot different back then, and the play-by-play of the game almost read like an entirely different sport, it helped the two get in touch with their family history. 

Along with learning more about his great-grandfather’s playing days, Tommy grew up hearing many stories from his uncle and father about Maryland. As mentioned earlier, his Uncle Nicky has one particular story about finding Tom McMillen a bed that is a family favorite. 

James remembered telling stories about convincing his fraternity brothers to go to football games and going in the fountain in Tawes Plaza across from Cole Field House after the games. 

James also remembered indoctrinating Tommy as a kid, having him watch Maryland sporting events as a kid. Tommy even knew how to sing the Maryland Victory Song when he was two years old. 

Along with teaching Tommy the victory song, and having him watch games from a Maryland chair, James made sure to teach him who Maryland’s rivals were. The teaching worked as James fondly remembered five-year-old Tommy drawing a football field with red Maryland stick figures always beating blue Duke or Penn State stick figures.

On September 4, when Maryland hosts West Virginia and Tommy suits up for his first official game, the entire family will be in town. Grandparents from Colorado and cousins from Kansas and New Jersey will be making the trip to College Park to see the second Varhall officially play for the Maryland Terrapins. 

The game is months away, but Tommy is eagerly awaiting it. 

“It will just be an I made it moment,” Tommy said. “Going out there under the lights for the first time, just seeing all the fans there, and have a couple of seconds and say like, I'm really here, just to soak it all in. And then obviously after that, time to go to work and everything. But then even just with my family, a lot of them are going to be coming out to games this year. So just having that kind of impact where I can bring my family just closer together just by this one sport of football is, is just cool to me, you know?”

Although Tommy did not start talking to the Maryland coaching staff until his junior season and did not start thinking about college football until high school, him being a part of Maryland’s football team has been in the making his entire life.