Entertaining read on Thomas...
How a season at Miami restored Vikings rookie Jakobe Thomas’ passion for football
Thomas transferred to Miami after a frustrating season at Tennessee and rediscovered his confidence under a coaching staff he trusted. He believes he’s found the same culture in Minnesota.
Thomas called his mom.
He was struggling following a difficult season at Tennessee, where he’d transferred following three successful years at Middle Tennessee State.
The son who Brandi Thomas said held a football before a baby bottle told her he was thinking about “decisions past football.” He wasn’t happy.
She drove three hours from their home in Tullahoma, Tenn., to go talk to him face-to-face on campus. They walked and talked around his neighborhood until the sun came up and Jakobe had to report to a 6 a.m. workout. Brandi drove back home, changed and went to work.
After another couple of phone calls later that day, Jakobe told his mom he had put his name in the transfer portal.
“They completely had just broke my son down to nothing where he didn’t even believe in himself,” Brandi said.
Jakobe transferred to Miami, where he helped the Hurricanes reach the College Football Playoff championship game last season. More important, his time there reignited a passion for football that’d been dampened after a season spent on the sideline in Tennessee.
In Coral Gables, Fla., Thomas once again found the type of football environment he’d thrived in throughout high school and at Middle Tennessee — a structured, well-disciplined one, with coaches who were tough but cared for players like family.
The Vikings selected a restored Thomas 98th overall in April’s NFL draft.
“It’s hard to trust sometimes,” Thomas told the Minnesota Star Tribune during mandatory minicamp in mid-June. “Being in Miami for that year helped me get there.”
Difficult season at Tennessee
Following a career-best 2023 season at Middle Tennessee, Thomas entered the transfer portal after head coach Rick Stockstill was fired and Thomas’ beloved defensive backs coach Scott Shafer decided to retire.
Thomas initially committed to play at Oregon State after a visit with his family.
Then, on a visit alone at Tennessee, Thomas called his mom with Volunteers coach Josh Heupel on the line to tell her he was flipping his commitment.
“You’re letting a child — ‘cause he’s still a child, he’s still my child — make a decision like this without his parents being there and consulting with his family,” Brandi Thomas said. “That rubbed me wrong to start with.”
But Jakobe grew up just a few hours southwest of Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, and the idea of donning the orange and white was a bit of a dream come true.
The dream didn’t end up playing out the way it did in his head. Thomas appeared in all 13 of Tennessee’s games that season but averaged only 20 defensive snaps. His mother said she felt Tennessee’s locker room lacked the discipline, structure and standards her son needed to thrive.
The following spring, Thomas was told he’d have to compete for his spot, and there was a disagreement over his name, image and likeness deal, Brandi Thomas said.
Around that time she made the six-hour round-trip drive to Knoxville to talk with her son about his options for the 2025 season.
Jakobe Thomas said no singular incident made him decide to move on from Tennessee; the entire season was his “smoke and mirrors moment.”
“People can say whatever they want to say to you,” he said. “They can say a thousand things to you, but actions speak louder than words.”
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Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
Joining the Miami Hurricanes
Thomas, after announcing he was entering the portal for the second time in his collegiate career, scheduled visits with only two schools — Florida State, where Stockstill was on staff, and Miami, where he had no connections.
“I don’t know what they seen and what they thought was so good about me,” Thomas said on draft night.
But Hurricanes safeties coach Will Harris trusts his scouting. A former college defensive back, Harris has coached at the collegiate and professional level, including working with Vikings cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. at Washington.
Harris watched every snap of Thomas’ college career, and said his physicality and football IQ made him “a no-brainer” addition to the Miami secondary.
The two hit it off when Thomas and his family met with Harris during their visit to Coral Gables.
Harris was exactly who Thomas had been looking for in his next coach. He’d come in with a list of qualities he wanted, Brandi Thomas said, and Harris matched perfectly: A Black coach who had played his position, held players accountable and “didn’t just sell you a dream but would walk the walk with you.”
In the middle of their conversation, Jakobe Thomas saw a switch flip on Harris’ face. The affable coach turned serious as he promised the safety he would turn him into a top-100 draft pick.
“That was a moment where I was like, ‘I can trust this guy,’” Thomas said.
The group went to Miami head coach Mario Cristobal’s office next, and Thomas didn’t sit the entire time. He was too excited. Asked if he was still going to visit Florida State, Thomas said no. They started discussing what jersey number he could wear for the Hurricanes.
After only a few weeks in Miami, Thomas called his mom.
“Oh, my child is back,” Brandi Thomas said she remembered thinking.
Jakobe Thomas becomes the ‘hammer’
In Harris’ view, his relationship with Jakobe Thomas solidified in Miami’s Week 3 game against South Florida.
Thomas was struggling emotionally against the Bulls. He was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct midway through the second quarter on a punt return for shoving the punter from behind.
Harris pulled Thomas aside at halftime. The conversation deepened their bond and led to Thomas forcing a key fumble that a teammate recovered early in the third quarter.
“From then on, he was lights out,” Harris said.
Physicality has always been a part of Thomas’ game, even before he played organized football. He still boasts a scar near his eye from an incident when he was around three years old playing neighborhood ball with kids 10-plus years older than him.
Harris and Miami defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman — who was the Gophers’ DC in 2024 — encouraged Thomas’ physicality, but also taught him to hone it. Hurricanes coaches called Thomas their “hammer.”
Hetherman’s scheme, which is influenced by Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, allowed Thomas to play downhill and take on a variety of different roles.
Thomas took on “a lot” of responsibility, Harris said, including being a primary communicator of checks for the Hurricanes’ defense — much like Harrison Smith, nicknamed the “Hitman,” did for the Vikings.
“Once [Hetherman] gained the trust in me and I gained trust in him, the sky was the limit for us,” Thomas said. “There’s so many different things that we could do.”
Thomas started all 16 games for the Hurricanes, including the CFP title game against Indiana. He had the second-most tackles (76) and interceptions (five) on the team, along with six pass breakups, 3½ sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
One of those five interceptions was a pick-six on senior night against North Carolina State. Thomas returned the pass 60 yards up the Miami sideline, pointing to his parents in the stands in celebration once he scored.
A real dream come true
Nearly two and a half years after Thomas thought a childhood dream was about to unfold by transferring to Tennessee, the bigger dream of reaching the NFL came true.
Thomas cried when the Vikings told him they were selecting him in the third round, his mom said.
He briefly panicked when Northwestern offensive tackle Caleb Tiernan’s name was called at No. 97. Brandi Thomas had to remind her son the Vikings had the No. 98 pick, too.
Jakobe Thomas had hoped the Vikings would draft him. He recognized the same qualities he loved in coaches like Harris in the Vikings’ coaching staff. He appreciated the way people at all levels of the organization interacted with each other. He felt like he could be himself.
The night of his pre-draft visit to TCO Performance Center, Thomas called his mom.
“It feels like home,” Thomas told her. “You know the feeling we got when we walked in Miami?
“That’s what it feels like.”
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
Almost wish he’d picked #47. He’s going to bring that same kind of physicality.
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here”
Shakespeare
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