Entering 2022-23: 15th year
Alma Mater: Western Kentucky University ('86)
Cumulative Record: 63-82 (.435)
Perry Thomas enters his 15th season as head coach of the Fighting Tiger football program in 2022.
After a 4-6 record in 2013, Thomas has turned the football program around and has recorded the most successful five-year stint in CU history. In 2014 and 2015, the Fighting Tigers have a 15-7 record and knocked off five teams that were ranked inside the NAIA Top 8. Campbellsville broke 23 program records in 2015 en route to winning its second-straight Mid-South Conference West Division title and earning two-straight NAIA Football Championship Series playoff berths.
The MSC title in 2014 was the first since 1997 and the playoff berth was the first since 2001.
The Tigers took a step back in 2016 by going 2-8 overall. CU battled season-ending injuries and only starting one upperclassmen on the defensive side of the ball.
But in 2017, Campbellsville was one win away from another NAIA playoff berth. The NCCAA selected the Fighting Tigers to participate in the Victory Bowl and Campbellsville won its second championship with a 41-28 win over SAGU.
The Tigers were haunted by injuries in 2018 after All-Conference slot receiver Keanu Young went down with a season-ending injury in the spring of 2017 and the Tigers went 4-6.
Campbellsville once again was bit by the injury bug with All-Conference receiver Keanue Young getting injured in the first game of the season. CU went 1-9.
Thomas inherited the Campbellsville University football program in December 2007, coming off an 0-10 season. After posting a 3-8 record his first season in 2008, and finishing runner-up in the Mid-South Conference East Division in 2009 at 7-4, Thomas' program was named the No. 20 most improved program in all levels of college football and the No. 6 most improved in the NAIA. In 2010, he posted a 7-5 record, giving the Tigers their first back-to-back winning seasons in nearly a decade and took CU to the postseason for the first time since 2001 with a trip to the NCCAA Victory Bowl. The Tigers returned to the Victory Bowl in 2011, winning their first NCCAA title on their home field.
During the 2009 season, Thomas put Campbellsville's defense among the nation's best in third down situations and inside the Red Zone, as the Tigers posted their first winning season since 2004 and best finish since 2003, at 7-4. He led the Tigers to their first win over rival Georgetown College since 1997, with a 28-21 victory at home and also knocked off a Top 10 team in Shorter College, 42-28, in the CollegeFanz/NAIA National Game of the Week. During the season, the Tigers returned to the NAIA National Rankings for the first time in five seasons, ranking as high as No. 24 and finishing the year at No. 28.
As a first-year college head coach in 2008, Thomas coached the NAIA's leading rusher, Greg Fountain, who was his first NAIA All-American and later signed a pro contract in Europe. Calvin Bini became Thomas' second NAIA All-American in 2010 and also went on to play pro ball with the Indoor Football League.
Over the past four seasons, CU has had three NAIA All-American, 27 Mid-South Conference All-Conference selections, nine All-Conference Honorable Mentions and 37 Academic All-Conference selections. Thomas' team also had the 2009 Mid-South Conference Champion of Character Award given to one of his players, Calvin Bini. In 2010, the program was awarded the NAIA Champion of Character Team Award.
Before coming to Campbellsville, Thomas posted a successful, 16-year career as a high school coach in Kentucky, leading his team to the Kentucky State High School Football Playoffs each year he was a head coach. His 16-year record as a high school head coach is 133-64. His coaching career began in 1986 as a volunteer assistant at Allen County-Scottsville High School and he was an assistant coach for the Patriots in 1987. He then became defensive coordinator at Campbellsville High School from 1988-1991.
From 2000-2007, Thomas guided the Blue Tornado of Paducah Tilghman High School to a 70-31 record, including eight playoff appearances, five district championships, two regional championships and two state semi-final appearances. His 2007 team finished the season 9-5 and was eliminated in the state semi-finals 17-14 on a last second field goal by eventual Kentucky State Champion Louisville Central High School.
From 1992 through 1999 he was the head coach at Campbellsville High School where he compiled a 63-33 record. Thomas led the Eagle program to eight straight playoff appearances and had two district and one regional championship along with one state semi-final appearance.
Thomas has been named District and/or Region Coach of the Year nine times during his career and was named the 1993 and 1997 Kentucky Class A Coach of the Year by the Courier-Journal. He is a five-time coaching staff member of the Kentucky vs. Tennessee All-Star Team and was the Head Coach of the Kentucky All-Stars in 2006. Thomas was also a National Finalist for the American Football Coaches Association "Power of Influence" Award in 2005 and 2006 and received the Joe Russell Distinguished Leadership Award from the Western Kentucky Conference in 2003 and 2006.
A YEAR BY YEAR LOOK AT THOMAS' TENURE
Campbellsville University: 62-74 (.456)
2008: 3-8 (.272)
2009: 7-4 (.636) MSC East runner-up
2010: 7-5 (.583) MSC East runner-up, NCCAA Victory Bowl contender
2011: 7-5 (.583) MSC East runner-up, NCCAA Victory Bowl Champion
2012: 3-8 (.272)
2013: 4-6 (.400)
2014: 7-4 (.636) MSC West Co-Champion, NAIA Football Championship Series
2015: 8-3 (.727) MSC West Champion, NAIA Football Championship Series
2016: 2-8 (.200)
2017: 8-2 (.800) NCCAA Victory Bowl Champion
2018: 4-6 (.400)
2019: 1-9 (.100)
2020: 1-6 (.142)
2021: 1-8 (.125)
