NSU fires Thomas after dismal year

After calling Thibodaux home for 13 years as a member of the Nicholls coaching staff, Jay Thomas was officially relieved of his duties by the administration Friday after serving as the Colonels head coach for the last six seasons.

The announcement came one day after the Colonels finished the season with a 45-30 victory over Southland conference foe Southeastern Thursday night, their second consecutive win of the season and third overall.

Thomas said he was shocked when he heard the news Wednesday afternoon from athletic director Rob Bernardi that the university wanted to go in a different direction.

“I just happened to find out by the athletic director telling me in so many words Wednesday that he wanted to meet with us on Friday morning,” the 49-year old said. “I just wanted to know what it was about, it was time for us to part ways. That’s what I was told.”

The official decision came after the Friday-morning meeting between Thomas and university officials. Thomas said had informed the team Wednesday night that the university would likely not bring him back next season.

The coach admitted that the game Thursday night was likely one of the most fun games he had ever been a part of.

“It was very enjoyable,” he said. “It was a lot of fun to watch the guys play. I wanted them to play for each other. We had been getting better the last month anyway. We should have one the game at Stephen F. Austin, we had that game won who now is the conference champions. We improved.”

Thomas held an overall record of 27-35 as head coach. Thomas led the Colonels to the Southland Conference Championship in 2005. In his first four years, Thomas accumulated a 21-21 overall record.

He was named the 2005 Southland Conference Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year Award. However, over the last two seasons, the Colonels had gone 6-14.

The team’s only wins in the 2009 campaign came against Duquense, Northwestern State and Southeastern Louisiana.

The 1988 Southern Miss graduate came to Nicholls as a defensive-ends coach at under Phil Greco from 1990-93 before coaching the defensive line at Southeast Missouri State from 1993-99.

He returned to Nicholls in 1999 as an assistant under head coach Darryl Daye before taking over the program in 2004 after Daye was fired due to academic fraud allegations involving online courses.

Thomas also had to deal with five hurricanes, which cancelled a total of five games during his career and budget cuts that did not allow him to hire a staff until after spring football.

He said he and his team has been “survivors” throughout everything and that he will continue that despite not being the Colonels coach any longer.

“I did what I was asked to do and tried to do it the best I could do it,” he asserted. “I am very proud of the fact that we went through four years of NCAA sanctions had scholarships stripped from us, how many guys we could sign, recruiting dates taken away from us, all those things and we were able to survive all of that, save the program and win the first ever conference championship.

“I have a lot of pride about that,” he added. “Nicholls football was put back on the map and then we go through five hurricanes and it goes on and on but I want to talk about those success stories we had. What the coaches and the players went through to beat all the odds and all the adversity they faced. To be able to go out stay competitive is something I take a lot of pride in.”

Being in Thibodaux so long Thomas has established many relationships that he may not be ready to give up just yet.

There is a possibility that the coach could return to football as a coach somewhere, but he isn’t opposed to taking a job in the area so he can continue to raise his daughters, Hannah (10) and Haley (8) in the only home that they have known.

He said he and his wife, Jan, would sit down and decide what is best for the family within the coming weeks.

“Thibodaux is home,” the humbled coach said. “I’m sure they may be some possibilities in the coaching profession, there are some possibilities outside of coaching to maybe stay in the area so our kids can still go to school here. I’ve already had some offers outside of football to stay in the area, maybe they’ll be some more. Who knows? Maybe we’ll get to stay.

“I’ll have to find something by January,” he added. “I need a paycheck.”

Even though things didn’t end the way Thomas planned, he admitted he would support the Colonels from afar as he will always have the relationship with all of his “sons.”

“Those players are guys who played for us,” he said. “They are all my sons. Certainly I’m going to be pulling for them to do well and I wish the next staff all the best. I’m always going to keep an eye on them.”

In the meantime, Thomas’ six assistant coaches will remain with the university handling recruiting and the football team’s day-to-day operations. However, the new head coach will determine their long-term future.

As for the vacancy, a search for a new head coach will begin as soon as the university reopens next week according to Athletic Director Rob Bernardi.

The committee will be assembled to develop the job criteria Bernardi said but he is unsure whether or not the university wants a coach who runs the triple-option offense again.

“We will begin the search for a new coach as soon as administratively possible,” he said. “The university is closed all of this week, which does delay the process slightly. But I am optimistic we can move fairly quickly at finding a replacement for Jay Thomas.”

Former Nicholls State head football coach walks out of the tunnel with his team during a game earlier in the season. After six seasons on the Colonels sideline Thomas was relieved of his duties Friday morning. * File Photo / Tri-Parish Times