Jeff "JT" Thomas will enter his first season as the Madison College women's volleyball coach in the fall of 2018 after being hired in June of that year.
Thomas brings an extensive coaching background with him after nearly 20 years at the collegiate, club, and high school levels. Most recently, Thomas spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach and strength & conditioning coach at NCAA Division III Edgewood College in Madison, during which he helped the Eagles to a 37-29 overall record and a 16-6 mark in the Northern Athletics College Conference.
Prior to Edgewood, Thomas was involved in club volleyball for four years, the last two with Madison Elite Volleyball Club as a club coach and strength & conditioning assistant, and Desert Elite Volleyball Club in Las Vegas, Nevada, as an assistant director and a coach. In both programs, he worked primarily with athletes in the 18-and-under group.
Thomas began his coaching at the high school level in Madison as the head boys varsity coach at his alma mater, La Follette High School, from 2009 to 2012.
During his time on the bench, he graduated 14 all-conference players. During the same time period, Thomas was the president and owner of Project Athlete and a manager at Anytime Fitness.
Thomas played collegiate club volleyball at UW-Oshkosh as an outside hitter and middle blocker, and guided the Titans to a 56-1 record and a National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) national championship in 2006. His collection of postseason accolades includes NIRSA First Team All-American in 2006, back-to-back Wisconsin Volleyball Conference (WVC) Most Valuable Player awards in 2005 and 2006, the WVC Freshman of the Year in 2001, four WVC all-conference selections, and a MIVA MVP honor in 2005. His success led to a brief training period with the USA national team, where he earned a practice team roster spot in 2006, and a 2011 induction in the WVC Hall of Fame.
Thomas was a three-sport athlete at La Follette High School, earning a total of 12 varsity letters in volleyball, basketball, and track & field. The outside hitter was a two-time All-Big 8 Conference selection, while also placing third in the 400-meter relay at the WIAA State Track & Field Championships.
Born in Racine, Wisconsin, Thomas lives with his wife Kayla and their son, Jayce (5), in Madison. During his free time, Thomas enjoys a variety of sports, physical fitness, and movies, while also traveling, camping, and boating through Wisconsin in the summer.
