Tomas Rimac is used to working with his hands.

An offensive guard that doubled as a discus thrower in high school, Rimac even prides himself on keeping busy even in his spare time.

That’s where woodworking comes into play as the Ohio native has long enjoyed creating things out of pallets that he acquires from his mother’s grocery store.

“I stay busy in my free time,” the sophomore said.

On the field, Rimac has kept busy as well. After being elevated into the starting lineup down the stretch run last season, he has cemented a role there this fall at left guard.

Last season, Rimac earned his way onto the field against Texas Tech where he split reps, but things really took a major step in his first start at TCU when he was able to earn his first start of his career.

“The speed of it was different but I had to settle down, fall back on my training,” he said.

It’s a major leap for a redshirt freshman, but one that Rimac put himself in position for long before that. Even when he first arrived on campus and was working with the third string, he understood his role on the scout team and how if he pushed those in front of him, he was in turn going to improve.

And improve Rimac has. Since that time, he has gotten more confidence playing the position and has learned how to utilize his length to help him control his body and use that to his advantage. That has allowed him to stop leaning over in pass sets to avoid defenders sliding off of him.

There is a lot more technique to playing offensive line than football laymen would notice and the details that go into playing the position fit well into how Rimac treats his personal life. But like most things that don’t evolve around following the ball, he understands that if he does his job, he’ll go largely unnoticed.

And on the offensive line that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

As far as the offensive line itself, there is a real sense of cohesion and brotherhood with the group considering so many pieces return from a season ago. Almost 3,500 snaps return from last season and the group has only continued to gel in the off-season through spring ball and now fall camp.

“It’s one of the most important things you need to make an offensive line. All five have to do the same thing, the right thing to make it look good,” Rimac said. “Chemistry is a big important part of it and as a whole group we’re unbreakable.”

And it’s not just on the field either as the group has bonded together and spend their time together off the field as well as on it as the 15-members all are constantly in each other’s company.

“Definitely helps with it. We all understand what we’re trying to do and understand,” he said.

His hands are going to be busy blocking this fall, but once his football career does end Rimac isn’t going to have any trouble finding things to do either.

And that’s just the way he likes it.

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