WKU Football Head Coach Tyson Helton announced the hiring of Jarae Thurmond as Director of Player Personnel in April 2024. The 2025 season will be his second with the program.
Thurmond comes to WKU from Georgia Southern, where he worked as the Director of Player and Recruiting Relations.
Thurmond, a native of Dacatur, Georgia, joined the Georgia Southern support staff in 2022 after medical retirement from the U.S. Navy after 12 years of honorable service. Thurmond served on board the USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60), USS Hopper (DDG 70) and Submarine Training Facility SD, where he was awarded Instructor of the Year (2020) and Sailor of the Year (2021) for his command. This was while serving as a coach at Sweetwater High School (San Diego, CA) for four years as the varsity running backs/wide receivers coach. While with the Red Devils, he coached three 1,000-yard rushers and was on staff of the first playoff winning team in over eight years at the school with back-to-back Metro Pacific League championships.
