Auburn names Jake Thornton offensive line coach

AUBURN, Ala. (WSFA) - Auburn University announced today that Jake Thornton will become the football team’s new offensive line coach.

Thornton has spent the past two seasons as the offensive line coach for Ole Miss. During his time with the Rebels, he was instrumental in helping the team achieve a top-ten national ranking in total offense each year.

“Jake Thornton is a rising star in our profession and has established himself as one of the best young offensive line coaches in the country,” Freeze said. “He helped lead one of the top offenses in the Southeastern Conference over the last two seasons and is a great addition to the Auburn program. He will be a difference maker for our offense.”

This past season at Ole Miss, the Thornton-led offensive line paved the way for the SEC Freshman of the Year and First Team All-SEC running back Quinshon Judkins. Judkins set a single-season school record in rushing yards at 1,476 and touchdowns with 16.

“I’m very honored and excited to join Coach Freeze’s staff at Auburn,” Thornton said. “Coach Freeze is one of the best offensive minds in college football, and I look forward to working with him to help compete for championships at Auburn. Auburn is known for its blue-collar, hard work mentality, and our offensive line will possess that mentality. It’s time to go to work!”

During his coaching career, Thornton spent the 2020 season as the run game coordinator and offensive line coach at Gardner-Webb and was in the same role at FCS school Tennessee Tech in 2019. During his tenure at Tennessee Tech, he helped lead the Golden Eagles to their second-highest offensive yardage production in program history at 4,501 yards.

Auburn ranked 10th in the SEC in total offensive yards at 4,542 and is looking for Thornton to help boost those numbers in the upcoming season.

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