Cedric Thomas will be the next head coach of Alcorn State. Thomas was most recently the defensive coordinator for the Braves and was promoted following the separation of former head coach Fred McNair and Alcorn State. McNair went 48-33 overall with Alcorn State while winning two SWAC Championships and five division championships in 7 seasons.
Thomas began his coaching career at Alcorn State in 2001 as a graduate assistant and became the running backs coach a year later at Tennessee-Martin. In 2003 and 2004, he was the defensive coordinator at Mississippi Delta Community College followed by two years at Itawamba Community College as defensive backs coach. He returned to Mississippi Delta as the defensive coordinator for five seasons from 2007 through 2011.
Thomas came back to Alcorn State in 2012 when he spent four years as the defensive backs coach and was later promoted to defensive coordinator for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. He became head coach of fellow SWAC member Arkansas-Pine Bluff for two years where he led the Lions to an 8-14 record. He left UAPB to take the defensive backs coaching position at Southern Miss in 2020. He spent a year as head coach at Mississippi Delta going 5-4 in 2021 and has an overall record of 13-18 in three seasons as a head coach.
Thomas once again returned to Alcorn State starting in 2022 where he has been the defensive coordinator. The Braves were co-champions of the SWAC West in 2023 with a defense that surrendered 22.5 points per game including three games in which they allowed seven points or fewer. They lost the head-to-head tiebreaker against Prairie View A&M that would have given them a spot in the SWAC Championship game.
Photo Credit to Alcorn State University Athletics
