Chris Thomsen (born November 7, 1968) is an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach. He is the deputy

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

and

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

s coach for

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

, positions he has held since 2020. Thomsen was the

of the Wildcats football program at

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Christian research university in Abilene, Texas, United States. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as an R2 (High Research Spending and Doctorate Production) institutio ...

(ACU), from 2005 through 2011. Thomsen also served as the interim head football coach at

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

for one game in 2012, the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas.

Coaching career

Early years

Thomsen is a 1993 ACU graduate and a former Wildcats

. Following his graduation, he remained at ACU, first as a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

and then working his way up to

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

coach, recruiting coordinator,

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

, and, finally, assistant head coach. In 1998, the Wildcats finished 18th in the nation in passing under the direction of Thomsen, who was the offensive coordinator. Prior to transferring to ACU, Thomsen played football three seasons (1988–90) and baseball one season (All-America and All-Southwest Conference with 21 home runs and a .373 batting average) at TCU before being selected in the 17th round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft by the Oakland Athletics. Thomsen went on to play for two seasons in Oakland's minor league system. In the 1991 season, Thomsen became the only TCU player in program history to hit for a home run cycle in a March 1, 1991, doubleheader against Northeast Louisiana (now UL Monroe). In the first game, he had an inside-the-park home run, a three-run home run and a two-run home run. In the second game he had another solo home run and a grand slam. He was 5-for-7 with five homers and 11 RBI in the doubleheader. He went on to earn first team All-SWC and All-America honors and was also a member of the SWC Postseason Baseball Championship All-Tournament team. He was voted the TCU Male Athlete of the Year in 1991. He earned a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice from TCU in December 1993 and received his master's in secondary education from ACU in 2000. In 1999, Thomsen left ACU to go into private business, but eventually returned to coaching as he became offensive coordinator at

Wichita Falls High School Wichita Falls High School (WFHS) was a public school in Wichita Falls, Texas, United States. It is part of the Wichita Falls Independent School District (WFISD) and was one of the district's three high schools up until 2024. Located at 2149 Avenu ...

in 2001. With Thomsen calling the plays, the Coyotes won back-to-back district titles and led the district in scoring both seasons (34 points per game in 2001 and 42 ppg in 2002). In 2002 they set the school's single-season record for most points in a season, and the quarterback set the school's single-season record for touchdown passes. Following his tenure at Wichita Falls High School, Thomsen served a two-year stint as offensive line coach at the

University of Central Arkansas The University of Central Arkansas (Central Arkansas or UCA) is a public university in Conway, Arkansas, United States. Founded in 1907, the university is one of the oldest in the state. As the state's only normal school at the time, UCA has hist ...

Abilene Christian

In 2005, Thomsen returned to his alma mater, succeeding Gary Gaines as the ACU Wildcats head coach. In 2006, he led the Wildcats to an 8–3 record and the program's first berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs. He was named the Lone Star Conference South Division Coach of the Year. In 2008, Abilene Christian finished the regular season undefeated for the first time since 1950. In the NCAA Division II Playoff second round the Wildcats knocked off rival

West Texas A&M University West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas, United States. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Southern Associat ...

93–68, the 93 points an NCAA playoff record. In December 2008, Thomsen applied for the vacant head coaching position at

Northwestern State University Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSULA) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport, Louisiana, Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville, Louisiana, Leesville/Fort Jo ...

and was named among the six finalists. Other finalists included

Bradley Dale Peveto Bradley Dale Peveto (born December 28, 1962) is an American football coach. He is a co-defensive coordinator and the linebackers coach at Texas State University and was previously the defensive coordinator at the University of Texas at El Paso (U ...

, co-defensive coordinator at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

and a former Northwestern State assistant, who eventually got the job. In 2011, Thomsen left ACU for an assistant position at

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

but left before the beginning of the 2012 season.

Texas Tech

On February 3, 2012, it was announced that Thomsen would be leaving his position at Arizona State to accept the position of offensive line coach for the

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas, United States. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams us ...

On December 8, 2012, Red Raiders head coach

Tommy Tuberville Thomas Hawley Tuberville (; born September 18, 1954) is an American politician and retired college football coach who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from Alabama, a seat he has held since 2021. Before ...

resigned to take the same position with the Cincinnati Bearcats football program, and two days later Thomsen was named interim head coach replacing Tuberville. Thomsen lead the team to a victory in the 2012 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas against

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Arizona State

Following the bowl victory, Arizona State hired Thomsen once more to be their running backs coach. As of March 19, 2013 Thomsen was moved to offensive line coach for the Sun Devils. Also on the staff was

Mike Norvell Michael Kelly Norvell (born October 11, 1981) is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach for Florida State, a position he has held since 2020. He was previously head coach at Memphis, and has coached for Arizona State ...

, who had played at Central Arkansas during Thomsen's tenure there. After the 2016 season Thomsen departed Arizona State to become the offensive line coach at

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

under

Gary Patterson Gary Allen Patterson (born February 13, 1960) is an American college football coach and former player. He served as head football coach at Texas Christian University (TCU) from 2000 to 2021, compiling a record of 181–79. Patterson led the TCU ...

TCU

Thomsen coached the offensive line at TCU for three seasons.

Florida State

At the end of the 2019 season he left TCU to be reunited with Norvell, the new head coach at

. Norvell named him

s coach and deputy head coach. Thomsen served as acting head coach for a single game after Norvell tested positive for the

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

Head coaching record

Notes

References

External links

Florida State profile

TCU profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomsen, Chris 1968 births Living people American football tight ends Abilene Christian Wildcats football coaches Abilene Christian Wildcats football players Arizona State Sun Devils football coaches Central Arkansas Bears football coaches Florida State Seminoles football coaches TCU Horned Frogs football players Texas Tech Red Raiders football coaches High school football coaches in Texas Sportspeople from Vernon, Texas Coaches of American football from Texas Players of American football from Texas