Ole Miss Football Hiring Elite Front Office Figure, LSU Tigers General Manager

Pete Golding and Co. add the elite football mind to the staff in Oxford, makes return to the Magnolia State.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Rebels Football.

Ole Miss is set to bring back general manager Austin Thomas to join the staff in Oxford after two seasons with the LSU Tigers, according to 247Sports.

Thomas joined the LSU staff in Baton Rouge as the program's general manager and senior associate athletics director in 2024, but following the hiring of Lane Kiffin, was not retained.

He returned to LSU in January of 2024 to serve as a senior associate athletic director for football administration in what became his third stint with the program.

Thomas was elevated to general manager at LSU for the first time in 2016, becoming the first person in college football to hold that title.

The savvy football mind returned to Baton Rouge after two years at Ole Miss, where he served as football chief of staff and sport administrator for the Rebel football program in 2022 and 2023.

Ole Miss is expected to announce Austin Thomas as its new Ole Miss football general manager this week. He's coming from LSU and was previously with the Rebels.

— Chase Parham (@ChaseParham) December 15, 2025

Ole Miss had perhaps the best season in school history in 2023, winning a program record 11 games, beating Penn State in the Peach Bowl and finishing the year ranked No. 9 in the nation.

Now, Thomas makes his return to Oxford as the general manager and president of football operations, according to On3 Sports, in a meteoric hire for the Ole Miss program.

"Considered one of the top off the field professionals in all of college football, Thomas spent multiple seasons on Lane Kiffin’s staff in off-the-field roles at both USC and Tennessee," according to his LSU bio.

"Thomas served as a defensive quality control coach for Kiffin in Knoxville in 2009, followed by a two year stay at USC as the Trojans’ assistant director of player personnel from 2011-2013."

Ole Miss is hiring Austin Thomas as its next general manager and president of football operations, sources tell @On3sports. @ChaseParham first.

Former LSU general manager. https://t.co/CCYxbWYKHG pic.twitter.com/9HrWos9c2p

— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos) December 15, 2025

Thomas is the second rehire for Ole Miss after bringing back recruiting guru Kelvin Bolden after a one-year stint with the LSU Tigers.

Bolden made his way to Louisiana for the 2025 season where he reunited with Thomas after the two had developed a relationship during their two seasons at Ole Miss.

Thomas initially helped bring Bolden to Ole Miss in 2022 during his two seasons as the Rebels' Football Chief of Staff and Sport Administrator.

Then, the two joined LSU's staff where Bolden arrived prior to the 2025 season - spending only one season in Baton Rouge where he now makes a return to Ole Miss.

Courtesy of Kelvin Bolden's X/Twitter.

In February, On3 Sports labeled the Magnolia State native as one of college football’s ‘off-field recruiting stars’ of the 2025 cycle.

“Coordinator of Recruiting Strategy Kelvin Bolden is one of the SEC’s best relationship guys. The Rebels signed On3’s No. 19 class.”

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