Terry Thimlar serves in a dual role for the Florida Flame as the team’s general manager, as well as providing coaching assistance to head coach Dennis Johnson. His primary job responsibilities for the Flame involve overseeing all basketball operations and managing media, public, and community relations. Thimlar assumed his role with the Flame on May 24, 2004.

Thimlar brings over 33 years of basketball playing, coaching, teaching, and operations experience to the Florida Flame. He played basketball for two seasons at Edison Community College, a team coached by his father, the legendary Hugh Thimlar. During his sophomore season, Thimlar led the nation in free throw percentage, and was the team’s Most Valuable Player. He finished his collegiate career at Indiana State University, where during his senior season the Sycamores compiled at 25-2 record and were led by a sophomore named Larry Bird.

Following his playing career at Indiana State, Thimlar made the switch to coaching, taking a position as an assistant coach at the University of Florida for the 1977-78 season. He returned to Indiana State as an assistant coach for the 1978-79 season. ISU posted a perfect 28-0 regular season record before Bird and the Sycamores lost to Magic Johnson and Michigan State in one of the most memorable NCAA Championship games in history.

In 1986, Thimlar took the head coaching position at Cypress Lake High School in Fort Myers. He was named Southwest Florida coach of the year in 1991-92, guiding Cypress Lake to regional runner-up finish in the state tournament. In 1994, he was named head coach at the new Lehigh Senior High School in Lehigh Acres, garnering a district runner-up finish and advancing to the region quarterfinals of the state tournament in just his second season. In 1996, Thimlar accepted the head coaching position at Muncie Central High School in Muncie, Ind. He coached at Muncie for three years before returning to Florida to pursue a career in operations.

Thimlar was hired as athletic director for the new Dunbar High School in Fort Myers in 1999. At Dunbar, he created an entirely new athletic department from the ground up, and helped the school open their doors in the year 2000.

In August of 2000, he was named an assistant coach under Rick Barry for the NBA Legends Tour in China. He helped coach NBA greats Clyde Drexler, Buck Williams, and Rolando Blackman against the Chinese Olympic Team led by Yao Ming.