Jon Hale

Louisville Courier Journal

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Louisville wide receivers coach Lamar Thomas has accepted the same position at Kentucky, a source confirmed to The Courier-Journal on Monday.

Thomas joined Bobby Petrino’s Louisville staff in 2014 after spending one season on Petrino’s staff at Western Kentucky. He was a standout receiver at Miami from 1988-92, earning first-team All-Big East honors twice. He holds the Miami career record for receptions (144).

At Louisville, Thomas was responsible for recruiting South Florida. He served as the primary recruiter for Louisville star quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Thomas, who did not immediately respond to messages left on his cell phone, attended Saturday's Louisville-Virginia basketball game along with the Cards' coaches and visiting recruits, sitting next to Jackson and top U of L target Trayvon Mullen, a four-star cornerback from Florida who is Jackson's cousin.

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Thomas would be the third U of L assistant to leave the staff for a job in the Southeastern Conference since the end of the season, following defensive backs coaches Terrell Buckley (now at Mississippi State) and Greg Brown (now at Missouri). So far U of L has hired only one replacement – former Southern California DBs coach Keith Heyward – to coach the entire secondary.

Before joining Petrino's staff at Western Kentucky, Thomas spent two years as the wide receivers coach at Hampton. He also served as the passing game coordinator for three years at Boynton Beach Community High in Boynton Beach, Florida.

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Thomas’s Louisville contract pays him $200,000 per year through June 2016. Former UK wide receivers coach Tommy Mainord, who was fired in December, earned $275,000 per year under the terms of his most recent contract. Former Wildcat assistant Chad Scott, who was slated to move from running backs to wide receivers before taking a job at North Carolina earlier this month, was also paid $275,000 per year.

At Kentucky, Thomas will be tasked with coaching a position group that was among the team's biggest disappointments in 2015.

Before the season UK coaches frequently praised the wide receiver group's depth and talent, but as the season progressed dropped passes became a significant issue and the depth was rarely used outside of a primary rotation of sophomores Dorian Baker, Garrett Johnson and Jeff Badet. In a postseason wrap-up interview, UK head coach Mark Stoops singled out the position as one needing improvement.

"I thought the wide receiver group would be a difference-maker for us, and I think that as an overall unit they played some good football, but too inconsistent for us," he said. "That group needs to continue to improve to be difference-makers."

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Kentucky returns every wide receiver that caught a pass in 2015.

In December, Stoops fired Mainord and offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson. They were replaced by new offensive coordinator and running backs coach Eddie Gran and co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Darin Hinshaw later that month. Following the addition of the new coaches, Scott was reassigned to coach the receivers, but he accepted a job as North Carolina's new tight ends coach in January.

Steve Jones contributed to this story. Email Jon Hale atjahale@courier-journal.com. Follow him on Twitter@JonHale_CJ.