Jeff Thorne is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former player. He was the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

in 2022. Thorne served as the head football coach at

North Central College North Central College is a private college in Naperville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and has nearly 70 areas of study in undergraduate majors, minors, and programs through 19 academic departments organized in thre ...

from 2015 to 2021. He succeeded his father, John Thorne, and led the 2019 team to an NCAA Division III national title. Thorne played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Eastern Illinois University Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...

, starting at

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

in the early 1990s. His son, Payton, is the current starting quarterback at

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

Playing career

Thorne attended Wheaton Central High School in Wheaton, Illinois where he played under his father, head coach John Thorne. He set the state record for career touchdown passes with 57. He started as a sophomore and threw for over 1,000 yards. His senior season, he led the team to a 5A state semifinal appearance and was named all-state. He played in the Illinois High School All-Star game and was named MVP. He also played baseball and was an all-conference selection in basketball. Thorne then enrolled at

and was a four year starter. He was selected all-Gateway Conference honorable mention after his junior season in 1992 after throwing for 1944 yards and 10 touchdowns. His senior season he earned 2nd team all-conference honors. He holds the school record for most interceptions thrown in a game with seven in a 7-49 loss to

McNeese State McNeese State University is a public university in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Founded in 1939 as Lake Charles Junior College, it was renamed McNeese Junior College after John McNeese, an early local educator. The present name was adopted in 1970. ...

. He ranks in the top ten in school history in season pass efficiency, touchdown passes, and interceptions. Thorne ranks fourth in career total offense, passing yardage, passing attempts, and completions categories behind

Jimmy Garoppolo James Richard Garoppolo (born November 2, 1991), nicknamed Jimmy G, is an American football quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Eastern Illinois, where he set the school r ...

Sean Payton Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglici ...

, and

Tony Romo Antonio Ramiro Romo (born April 21, 1980) is an American sportscaster and former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Eastern Illino ...

Coaching career

Assistant coaching

After graduation, Thorne became an assistant coach at his former high school under his father coaching during three state championship seasons. Thorne became offensive coordinator for Division III North Central College in 2002, the same year his father became head coach. He was a finalist for coordinator of the year in 2013 after his offense average over 45 points per game on route to a National Championship appearance.

North Central

After his father's retirement, Thorne was named head coach for the 2015 season. After the 2016 season, Thorne was named College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin coach of the year and AFCA Region Coach of the Year. He was named D3football.com Coach of the Year after his 2019 National Championship. Thorne coached the 2019

Gagliardi Trophy The Gagliardi Trophy was first presented in 1993 to the Outstanding Division III college football player of the year by the Jostens Company and the J-Club of Saint John's University in Minnesota. Since that time, the award has become one of the ...

winner Broc Rutter.

Western Michigan

On February 1, 2022, Thorne was named the offensive coordinator for

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Michigan, Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region a ...

under head coach Tim Lester. Under Thorne, the offense averaged 301.9 yards per game during the 2022 season, last in the MAC. Western Michigan finished the year 5-7, including 4-4 in conference, good for third place in the MAC West. Thorne, along with the rest of the coaching staff, was let go when Lester was fired on November 28.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorne, Jeff Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American football quarterbacks Eastern Illinois Panthers football players North Central Cardinals football coaches Western Michigan Broncos football coaches