Thomas said he reached out to Cephas for advice when he was going through the process last season. Jaden Dugger, who graduated from Penn Hills in 2022, played the past season at Georgetown but also announced he was hitting the portal to look for a new home. Dante Cephas, who played with Thomas on the Indians’ 2018 championship season, also made the MAC to Power 5 transfer last season.Ĭephas went from Kent State to Penn State. Thomas is one of several Penn Hills players who have landed in the transfer portal over the past few seasons. “That was the next step for me in my journey, and if I could get a chance to compete with those guys, I was going to go.” “When I hit the portal, in the back of my mind, I was trying to go to a Power 5 school,” Thomas said. Having already earned his degree, Thomas took a week after the end of the season and decided to see what his options were. Thomas also broke up a career-high three passes and recovered a fumble. He finished with 51 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss while he was back playing at safety. Thomas had the best season of his career in 2023. It taught me I had to battle and work for everything.” “Dealing with adversity has made me a better man.

“It was definitely difficult not getting as many wins as we wanted,” Thomas said. Thomas said he is excited to get a fresh start and to try to help another program build back up. Second-year coach Tony Elliott led Virginia to a 3-9 season last year. Virginia hasn’t had a winning season since going 9-5 in 2019. Thomas’ new destination is also working on building back to prominence.

Including Thomas’ 2019 redshirt season, Akron went 7-47 with three consecutive 2-10 seasons under coaches Tom Arth and Joe Moorhead. I played all over the field, and they were excited about my potential.” “That’s one thing that Virginia likes about me. “I would say it’s given me the versatility I have now,” Thomas said. He signed on to use his extra covid-19 pandemic year of eligibility at the University of Virginia. Thomas was also a consistent performer in the classroom, earning All-Mid America Conference academic honors several times, allowing him to earn his degree in marketing before departing Akron. Thomas was also asked to cycle between defensive line, linebacker and safety.īut when Thomas hit the transfer portal in the offseason, he carried with him versatility and experience dealing with adversity. Football didn’t always go the way Penn Hills graduate Corey Thomas Jr.

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