As he prepares for his fifth season as head football coach at Northwestern State, Jay Thomas isn’t worried. He’s excited.
That may seem odd considering the Demons didn’t win a Southland Conference game last season and are picked 10th in an 11-team league in the Southland’s official preseason poll. But,
- Worrying is not how Coach T rolls;
- He knows last year wasn’t the meltdown the record suggests. The Demons were very close to 4-5 conference wins, games settled in the fourth quarter, some in the final seconds;
- He likes what he saw in spring practice and what he knows will be added to the mix with new faces starting preseason camp;
- He really likes who will be wearing the purple and white, with orange trim, on the field and on the sidelines this fall.
There was no panic last season. There was a lot of pain, but nobody got thrown under the proverbial bus. That’s not how Coach T rolls. And his team responded. Wins didn’t result, but the effort was relentless and the esprit de corps was strong.
That’s because the 2016 seniors were part of a rock-solid foundation established in his first three seasons as head coach. They helped guide almost three dozen newcomers through tough times, and strengthened a culture that has Thomas, and the 2017 team, bursting at the seams for this fall’s competition.
After he produced the best back-to-back seasons in a decade, and much more, for Demon football during his first two years in charge, Thomas received a two-year contract extension from veteran athletics director Greg Burke. The third season in 2015, front-loaded with a brutal opening month, began unsuccessfully. But there was no panic, reflective of the steady leadership by Thomas, and success followed once again. That’s another indication that his fifth NSU squad will surprise skeptics.
With very strong recruiting classes each of the last two years, Thomas believes the Demons are on the path to challenging for the Southland Conference title and FCS playoff berths.
A key: his deep knowledge of the Southland gained through 17 seasons in the league, including six (2004-09) as head coach at Nicholls. He was finalist for national coach of the year honors in a 2005 playoff season by the Colonels.
Key No. 2: a focus on academic achievement by his players, including a significant surge in academic performance with a school-record 975 single-year APR for 2015-16 – tops in the Southland -- following a 969 in 2014-15 and a 960 for 2013-14. A combined 91 players graduated in NSU’s last five commencement exercises going back to 2014.
The 2014 season included noteworthy wins over Conference USA runner-up Louisiana Tech and FCS semifinalist and Southland co-champion Sam Houston State. Three one-score losses in league play and another in the season opener denied the 2014 squad a breakthrough season against a schedule ranked 10th strongest in the country.
Thomas, 56, had been defensive coordinator and assistant head coach in 2012 at Division II Missouri Southern, following two seasons as the Demons’ defensive line coach and assistant head coach in 2010 and 2011.
Previously, Thomas spent 14 seasons at Nicholls State, the last six (2004-2009) as head coach. Despite hurricanes that interrupted preseason or the regular season in three years, he had an overall 27-35 record that included Nicholls’ only Southland Conference championship (2005 co-championship) and wins over four nationally-ranked teams and FBS foe Rice. His Colonels finished the 2005 season ranked 17th in the Sports Network’s FCS Top 25, and reached a school-record high ranking of 13th in 2007.
During his tenure as head coach, Thomas instituted academic emphasis which resulted in the Nicholls team’s Academic Progress Rate improving from 746 to 930 over his five seasons.
Thomas guided Nicholls to a pair of winning seasons and a .500 record in a third season in a program that had only one season of .500 or better in the previous seven campaigns. His three .500 or better seasons gave Nicholls three of only four at that level in the past 14 years.
Among players he recruited and developed at Nicholls is star cornerback and kick returner Lardarius Webb of the Baltimore Ravens and three other NFL Draft picks, Kareem Moore (Washington, 2007), Jacob Bender (New York Jets, 2005) and Chris Thompson (Jacksonville, 2003). Three of his Demons are currently in the NFL: Ed Eagan (Buffalo), Pace Murphy and Shakeir Ryan (both in Los Angeles).
He was defensive line coach at Southeast Missouri State from 1993-99 and was a graduate assistant coach under the legendary Pete Jenkins at LSU from 1988-90, part of a staff that guided the Tigers to the 1988 Southeastern Conference championship.
Experience
Head Coaching
Year Team Record Postseason Notes
2017 Northwestern State
2016 Northwestern State 1-10
2015 Northwestern State 4-7
2014 Northwestern State 6-6
2013 Northwestern State 6-6
2009 Nicholls State 3-8
2008 Nicholls State 3-6
2007 Nicholls State 6-5
2006 Nicholls State 4-7
2005 Nicholls State 6-4 NCAA Playoffs (1st Round) SLC Champions
2004 Nicholls State 5-5
Coaching Record (10 years): 44-64
Record at Northwestern State (4 years): 17-29
Assistant Coach
Year Team Record Postseason Notes
2012 Missouri Southern 6-5
2011 Northwestern State 5-6
2010 Northwestern State 5-6
2003 Nicholls State 5-6
2002 Nicholls State 7-4
2001 Nicholls State 3-8
2000 Nicholls State 2-9
1999 Nicholls State 1-10
1998 Southeast Missouri State 3-8
1997 Southeast Missouri State 4-7
1996 Southeast Missouri State 3-8
1995 Southeast Missouri State 5-6
1994 Southeast Missouri State 7-5
1993 Southeast Missouri State 3-8
1992 Nicholls State 1-9-1
1991 Nicholls State 4-7
1990 Nicholls State 5-6
1989 LSU 4-7
1988 LSU 8-4 Hall of Fame Bowl SEC Champions
personal
Years at NSU: Seven (5th as HC, 5th since 2011)
Birthdate: Oct 8, 1960
Wife: Jan
Children: Hannah (17) and Haley (14)
High School: Baker HS
College: Southern Mississippi (1988)
Playing Experience
1984-88 Southern Mississippi
Accolades
Eddie Robinson Award Finalist, 2005
Southland Conference Coach of the Year, 2005
Southland Conference Champion (Nicholls), 2005
Top 15 Ranking (Nicholls), 2007
By the numbers
24 All-Conference players on the defensive line
6 Players in the NFL
5 All-Americans
2 Conference Players of the Year
