WVU Football Adds Tony Thompson as Special Teams Analyst

West Virginia football added another member to its coaching staff Friday afternoon, announcing the hire of Tony Thompson as a special teams analyst.

Welcome @CoachTThompson to the Mountaineer Family! #TrustTheClimb pic.twitter.com/c7RY9Tby5d

— WVU Football (@WVUfootball) June 18, 2021

Thompson comes to WVU after spending 14 seasons at Stony Brook (2007-2020). He served the last eight years as the team’s special teams coordinator and as an outside linebackers and defensive line assistant before that.

Thompson played linebacker at Stony Brook from 1995-97 and joined the coaching staff as a graduate assistant directly after. In 2001, Thompson moved on to spend time at Penn, Franklin & Marshall and Hofstra before returning to Stony Brook in 2007. West Virginia will be Thompson’s first job at the FBS and Power Five level.

As a whole, West Virginia’s special teams were unimpressive in 2020. Punters averaged 40.4 yards per punt with 24 fair catches and 20 downed inside the 20, three kickers combined to go 14-20 (70%) on field goals and neither the kick return (20-yard average) or punt return (five-yard average) made much of an impact. Inside linebackers coach Jeff Koon currently serves as WVU’s special teams coordinator.