Ole Miss athletics director says Rebels rescinded offer to Austin Thomas

OXFORD | Austin Thomas had been expected to join Ole Miss' football staff in a high-level off-the-field role, but the Rebels removed their offer on Friday, athletics director Ross Bjork told RebelGrove.com.

Thomas, who was most recently the general manager of LSU football and is a well regarded football organizational specialist, had been expected to stay in the Southeastern Conference, with Ole Miss the likeliest landing spot.

Ole Miss and Thomas first outlined a contract and position in December, but there was a delay as Thomas had to be approved by the NCAA because of the IAWP rule that is designed to keep programs from hiring high school coaches to off-the-field roles so it helps with recruiting prospects from those high schools. However, since the rule is somewhat vague, it's causing hangups across the country as staffers switch jobs in the offseason.

Ole Miss All-SEC tackle Greg Little was the player the Rebels needed a waiver because of, per sources, and Bjork says that was approved on Wednesday, but Thomas wouldn't finalize the deal.

"We crafted a position for him and it was very competitive," Bjork said. "We dialed into what we needed for the program and what he needed professionally. He committed to us several times throughout the process. When we got the waiver approved on Wednesday he started waffling and got wandering eyes from there. He said he was coming Wednesday night and last night and this morning but still was wavering on Ole Miss. We just pulled our offer. We want people who want to be Ole Miss, and we will move ahead with that as our goal."

Thomas' title at Ole Miss was going to be Associate Athletics Director for Player Personnel.

"He'd agreed to everything," Bjork said, "but there was a lot of waffling this week."

Sources told RebelGrove.com that Texas A&M had made contact with Thomas and that he was in College Station earlier this week.

Thomas' bio at LSU included this description that he "leads the way in the oversight and management of the entire LSU Football program." He was also praised for his recruiting ability while in Baton Rouge.

Thomas was expected to take a job with Tennessee after resigning with the Tigers, but that position also fell through at the last minute.