re: According to Bruce Feldman Austin Thomas out at Tennessee

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Well, LSU has an opening. He could throw his hat in the ring.

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Alright, here’s what I’ve gathered after speaking to a source on the LSU side. Thomas was making about $125,000 at LSU with bonuses and contracts that brought his annual income up significantly, but evidently he felt he was under-valued and bolted for Tennessee. Reading between the lines, this had less to do with wanting to return home than I originally thought. Now there are reports that things did not work out for Thomas in Knoxville and he will not be joining the Volunteers’ staff. As for your question about whether he’s coming back to LSU, let me just say this: My source said that reports of Thomas being a “star recruiter” and a vital component in LSU’s recruiting efforts were grossly exaggerated. In fact, he said he got a good laugh when he read a report that gave Thomas credit for recruiting Leonard Fournette. Bottom line: I wasn’t told this specifically, but I got the impression that Thomas’ bridge to LSU has been burned. Remember, Thomas left LSU once before and then returned to Baton Rouge after a short stint with USC. I would be surprised to see it happen a second time. As for whether Thomas tried to steer Traore to Tennessee, my source could not confirm that. If, in fact, Thomas won’t be a part of Tennessee’s staff, then I’d like to think any attempt Thomas might have made to recruit for Tennessee would be less effective anyway.

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Do you honestly believe even for a second after watching the sh!t show that was the Tenn search for a HC that they had the time, interest or skill necessary to plan and execute a “fake” hire of AT just to screw with LSU? 


Seriously?

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