A familiar face to Gamecock fans, Maxwell Thurmond returned to the sidelines at Jacksonville State in 2020 to coach the outside linebackers and special teams units.
Thurmond is a former JSU football student-athlete and spent more than a decade as an assistant coach at his alma mater from 2001-2012, and his return was a very successful one in the 2020-21 season.
Thurmond’s outside linebackers unit helped lead a Gamecock defense that was one of the top run defenses in the nation and in Gamecock history. All-American and First Team All-OVC selection DJ Coleman, Freshman All-American Jaylen Swain and All-OVC performer Umstead Sanders paced a defense that held a school-record nine-straight opponents under 100 yards rushing.
The Gamecocks led the OVC in total defense, rushing defense, third-down defense and sacks en route to their sixth OVC title in seven years and the No. 4 National Seed in the FCS Playoffs.
In Thurmond’s first season taking over the JSU special teams in the 2020-21 season, the Gamecocks enjoyed one of the OVC’s greatest turnarounds in that phase of the game. Freshman Michael Pettway was a First Team All-OVC selection as a kickoff returner, while freshman kicker Alen Karajic led the league in touchbacks, while also ranking third in the OVC in scoring among kickers.
In his stop before coming home to JSU, Thurmond served as special teams coordinator and linebackers coach for head coach Will Healy at Charlotte in 2019. In his season with the 49ers, UNCC set school records for wins (7), Conference USA wins (5), and winning streak (5) and advanced to the program’s first bowl game.
Thurmond was linebackers coach and special teams coordinator for Healy at Austin Peay in 2016-17. He inherited a team that went 0-11 the season prior. After a winless 2016 season, Thurmond helped the Govs snap their 29-game losing streak – the longest losing streak in NCAA football at the time – and go an outstanding 8-4 in just his season.
He served as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2018 at Central Arkansas as the Bears went 6-5.
He spent two years at West Alabama in 2014-15, prior to heading to Austin Peay. He oversaw linebackers and special teams at West Alabama, where he coached current Kansas City Chief Tyreek Hill. Before going to UWA, he was an assistant coach at Reinhardt University in 2013.
Thurmond was an assistant coach for 11 years at Jacksonville State, working with outside linebackers, defensive backs, cornerbacks, wide receivers and special teams. He was part of three Ohio Valley Conference championships and advanced to the playoffs in 2003, 2004 and 2010.
He helped Jax State claim the 2011 Ohio Valley Conference Championship with an offense that averaged 414.9 yards per game against conference opponents, including 245.0 yards on the ground, and an OVC-best 148.8 pass efficiency rating.
Thurmond’s special teams units ranked near the top in the OVC as the Gamecocks led the OVC in field goals (9-of-10) and were ranked third in kickoff coverage with a 41.5 net average.
He began his Gamecock coaching stint on defense, where he spent seven years with the outside linebackers and two years coaching cornerbacks, and help establish the Gamecocks as one of the most dominating defenses in the Ohio Valley Conference.
The Gamecocks joined the OVC in 2003 and immediately led the league in rushing defense for the first two seasons, ranking 10th nationally in 2004 and 23rd nationally in 2003. JSU led the league in turnover margin for three-straight years and finished ninth in the country in 2003, eighth in 2004 and seventh during the 2005 season.
In 2008, JSU led the OVC in scoring defense for the third straight year, allowing just 21.7 points per game. In 2007, the Gamecocks led the league in total defense (354.3 yards per game), rushing defense (145.5 yards per game) and scoring defense after allowing only 23.4 points per contest.
JSU led the OVC in scoring defense for the third straight year in 2009, allowing just 17.09 points per game. The Gamecocks also led the OVC in total defense (304.82), pass defense (154.91) and pass efficiency defense (103.99).
In 2010, the Gamecocks posted one of the most successful seasons in the school’s Division I history, finishing with a 9-3 overall record, and was ranked as high as No. 2 during the season.
JSU also advanced to the second round of the NCAA playoffs and hosted its first home playoff game in 18 years at Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium, while also claiming one of the biggest wins in school history with a 49-48 double-overtime thriller at Ole Miss.
Thurmond, a former cornerback for the Gamecocks (1996-2000), recorded 63 tackles throughout his career. As a senior, Thurmond recorded 23 tackles and had an interception return for 40 yards to help the Gamecocks defeat Nicholls State.
Thurmond hold a degree in Exercise Science. A native of Sylvester, Ga. where he attended Worth County High, Thurmond and his wife, Gresha have two children: Maxwell Jr. and Asha.
