LSU stole the Ole Miss head coach, as Lane Kiffin moved from the Rebels to the Tigers. In the process of the move of Kiffin to LSU, multiple coaches moved from Ole Miss to Baton Rouge. Now, a person from the former LSU staff is heading to Ole Miss.
According to Pete Nakos of On3, Austin Thomas, the former senior associate athletic director in charge of football at LSU, is being hired by Ole Miss to be the general manager and president of football operations. Thomas left LSU after the hiring of Kiffin as the new head coach.
Kiffin and Thomas have worked together in the past. Thomas was in the athletic department at Tennessee in 2009 when Kiffin was the coach there. The administrator would then follow the coach to USC in 2010. He ultimately branched out, joining LSU for the first time in 2014, being named the first general manager in college football. There, he won the Personnel Director of the Year in 2015, and helped construct the roster that won the 2019 National Championship at LSU.
Thomas then spent time at Texas A&M and Baylor before returning to Kiffin and spending time at Ole Miss. He returned for a third stint with LSU after spending 2022 and 2023 at Ole Miss, joining the program as a Senior Associate Athletic Director.
He has been a key part in recruiting in his career, and has worked in on the field as a quality control coach in the past. Now, he hopes to bring his success back to Ole Miss, as they look to continue to grow in the post-Kiffin era. Ole Miss is preparing for their College Football Playoff game against Tulane on Saturday.
