Austin Thomas may not be the most well-known assistant that Jeremy Pruitt has contacted and reportedly hired on to his staff since taking over as the Vols’ head football coach. But Thomas could be the best hire that Pruitt has made thus far.
According to a report earlier today from 247Sports, Tennessee is hiring LSU general manager Austin Thomas to a similar role on Jeremy Pruitt’s staff at Tennessee. Thomas doesn’t have any ties to Pruitt, but he does have a relationship with Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee’s new Athletic Director.
If you don’t know who Austin Thomas is, don’t feel bad. He hasn’t drawn a big national spotlight yet, and he’s only 31 years old. But he’s on a meteoric rise within the football world, and he could be the most important key in Tennessee’s recruiting and player development moving forward.
For those of you who don’t know who he is, here’s a little biographical information on young Thomas.
Thomas was promoted to General Manager after Ed Orgeron was named permanent head coach of LSU in November of 2016. The title of General Manager is rare in college football, and he’s the only GM in the SEC. There’s only one other person with that title in all of college football.
According to Thomas’ bio on LSU’s website, Thomas “works closely with NFL personnel to maximize the opportunity for LSU student-athletes at the next level.” Thomas was named the Personnel Director of the Year in 2015 and a finalist for the award in 2014 for his work with LSU’s recruiting and roster. He had been with LSU since 2013.
He also served as Bowling Green’s director of recruiting and player personnel before joining LSU. Before that, he was on staff with USC and was a defensive and recruiting assistant for a year before moving into the operations side of things in 2011. He was promoted to assistant director of operations/recruiting in 2012 and held that position till 2013. He was a recruiting intern at Tennessee and served as a defensive assistant with the Vols starting in 2008 under Fulmer and remained there during the 2009 season with Lane Kiffin’s staff.
Thomas is a graduate from UT and is from Franklin, TN. He graduated with an undergraduate degree from Lipscomb in 2008 and earned his master’s degree in sport management from Tennessee.
He has strong ties to the mid-state area of Tennessee in recruiting, and he was a large part of the reason why LSU was able to snag players like five-star JaCoby Stevens and four-star Jacob Phillips out of middle Tennessee in the 2017 class. He’s also a big reason why LSU was able to haul in the No. 2, No. 5, and No. 2 overall recruiting classes in the country according to 247Sports in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
In short, Thomas is a budding superstar from the administrative and recruiting side of things. But if you don’t believe me, then take someone’s word who’s been around Tennessee football for several decades:
Game changer. The guy is special. Wanted to come home. Huge get. Serious blow to LSU. Thought to possess ability to be future NFL GM potential. But his heart is here. Landed two 5 star guys in mid state of TN last yr for LSU. Heals a lot of wounds. Mid State will be locked down https://t.co/joysuGt8Ex
— Tony Basilio (@TonyBasilio) December 13, 2017
Thomas has the potential to be a home run hire for Tennessee. Pruitt is showing a renewed focus on in-state recruiting and is putting into action what Butch Jones only spoke of doing. Yes, Jones talked a big game when it came to in-state recruiting, and he was able to land some big time commits from the state. But the efforts Pruitt is putting in to re-emphasize in-state recruiting this early in his tenure as Tennessee’s head coach are very, very promising.
It’s also very possible that Tennessee is bringing on Thomas to groom him as a future AD at the university. While that’s a little less likely, especially given his age, it wouldn’t be surprising given how well he’s thought of in the football community and how well he’s performed at every stop he’s been at so far.
Most of Pruitt’s other hires on his staff will get more attention nationally than his hiring of Austin Thomas. But this could prove to be his most important hire, and I think it has the potential to be a big time move.
