GRAY DEYOSports Writer

2021 Tullahoma graduate and Tennessee Mr. Football semifinalist, Jakobe Thomas, just wrapped up his first season as a Vol and his fourth season of college football.

After playing for the MTSU Blue Raiders for three seasons, Thomas decided to try his hand at the transfer portal, and it paid off. He was ranked as the 12th-ranked safety in the transfer cycle and the 118th-ranked prospect. It was by no means easy getting his name printed on the back of an SEC football team, but the work ethic the former Wildcat has displayed proved that anything is attainable for him if he wants to achieve it.

“After Tennessee had become home, and he was able to travel with them for the first bowl game, he would come here and it wasn’t to be seen, he would come here and he would work. That’s when I think that he made the deep transformation. He saw what those dudes were capable of and he also saw what they were capable of getting in the end.  That’s when I think Jakobe said that’s what I want, I want to be that guy,” current head coach of Tullahoma Coy Sisk and once Thomas’ defensive coordinator when he played for the Wildcats said referring to what he believes was the turning point for Thomas to get to the current point he is at in his collegiate playing career.

In his four years at Tullahoma, Thomas established himself as one of the better-running backs and players in the state of Tennessee. He finished his senior season with 712 yards rushing and 16 Touchdowns. His performance on the field earned him many rewards, including First Team All-State and Region 4-4A MVP.

As far as what ultimately separated him as a player from his peers was his dominance not only on the offensive side of the ball but his play on the defensive side as well.

“In high school football in Middle Tennessee if you have a guy that possesses the athletic ability and athletic traits that Jakobe’s got, you want to get the ball in his hands, ” coach Sisk said regarding why Thomas played some at the RB position for the Wildcats.

“But knowing the entire time, the entire time, hey there wasn’t a person on this staff that didn’t know that defense is where he belonged. That was his niche, and at the next level we really figured depending on how he grew that he would be that safety outside linebacker type.”

Thomas, the once dual position dynamo for the Wildcats, now just plays on the defensive side of the ball as he is slotted in as a Defensive Back for the Vols. After he redshirted his freshman season and then played his first full season for MTSU, he really found his footing as a player and established himself as a force to be reckoned with at the collegiate level.

In his sophomore season for the Blue Raiders Thomas started 10 games and finished as Team’s second leading tackler with 71 tackles. He also put forth an impressive performance against the then-fifth-ranked team in the country—Alabama. Thomas finished the contest with a team-high eight tackles against the Crimson Tide, with 2023 number one overall NFL draft pick Bryce Young under center.

In his junior season and first season for UTK, the play was limited for the once-standout Tullahoma product. He appeared in 12 games for the Volunteers and tallied 13 tackles on the season.

The once prominent Wildcat and three-star recruit has faced adversity already before in his college career and has overcome it. And as he gears up for his second season at UTK and fifth and final season of college football, overcoming limited playing time should not be a problem for Thomas.

Watch out for the #9 in Volunteer Orange in 2025, a stellar season is likely ahead.