Ole Miss Football General Manager Austin Thomas Returning to LSU for Third Time

OXFORD, Miss. — Austin Thomas, the Senior Associate Athletic Director/Football General Manager of Ole Miss Football, will be leaving the Rebels’ program to return to the LSU staff for the third time in his career.

Sources indicate Thomas will work with multiple sports at LSU including football, as well as directly with Athletic Director Scott Woodward.

Thomas, a Tennessee graduate, worked for the Tigers from 2013-17. He left for a similar position as the associate athletic director for football personnel at Texas A&M from 2018-19. Thomas then spent one season at Baylor before going back to LSU.

He returned to Baton Rouge for the 2021 season to help oversee roster management and daily operations.

During his first stint at LSU, Thomas was named Personnel Director of the Year in 2015. Head coach Ed Orgeron promoted Thomas to general manager when Orgeron became the head coach a year later, making Thomas the first person to hold that title in the SEC. 

As the general manager at the time, Thomas held a key role in LSU’s scouting and recruiting departments. When Brian Kelly was hired as the Tigers’ head coach in December, 2021, Thomas was not retained at the time as Kelly instituted a new staff upon his arrival from Notre Dame.

From there, Thomas joined Lane Kiffin’s staff at Ole Miss in January, 2022. During his time in Oxford, Thomas evaluated recruits, managed the team’s budget, solved scheduling conflicts, and much more.

Thomas and Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin have had a connection since Kiffin coached at Tennessee and USC, where Thomas was on his staff at both programs.

Thomas has had profound success at LSU and Ole Miss, and it will be a loss for the program. But as the Rebels always say, “Next Man Up!”

Stay tuned to The Rebel Walk as we keep you updated on all Ole Miss sports news.