Dennis Thomas

Dennis E. Thomas (born September 5, 1953) is an American former gridiron football center, college football head coach, college sports athletic director, and collegiate athletic conference commissioner.

Biography Playing career Thomas attended Southside High School in his hometown of Heidelberg, Mississippi, where he played football and competed in shot put. He was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) offensive player of the year for the 1973 season, becoming the first (and to date only) offensive lineman to win the award.

Post-playing career Following his playing career, Thomas was a graduate assistant for Northeast Louisiana University (now the University of Louisiana at Monroe) during 1974 and became defensive line coach there in 1975. In 1976, he became linebacker coach at Alcorn State, joining the staff of Marino Casem. In 1979, Thomas was promoted to defensive coordinator. He took a leave of absence spanning the 1982 and 1983 seasons to pursue his academic career, then returned as defensive coordinator in 1984. In 1985, he was named assistant head coach, while retaining his defensive coordinator responsibilities.

In January 1986, Thomas left Alcorn State to become head coach of the South Carolina State Bulldogs football team. He compiled a record of during the 1986–1988 seasons. From 1990 to 2002, he was the athletic director at Hampton University in Virginia.

Personal life While at Alcon A&M, Thomas was president of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. His brother Johnny Thomas also played for Alcorn State and served as the team's head coach from 1998 through 2007.

Head coaching record