Jan. 4—PULLMAN — Washington State’s makeover on defense is in full swing.
The Cougars earned two commitments on Sunday, one from San Jose State transfer cornerback Jaylen Thomas and one from Kent State linebacker Nylan Brown, giving their new team its second and third pledges via the transfer portal — all on the defensive side of the ball.
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In the cornerbacks room, Thomas joins Oregon State transfer Jalil Tucker, who shared his decision on Saturday evening. That duo will help WSU replace outgoing cornerbacks Colby Humphrey and Jamorri Colson, both of whom are out of eligibility.
A native of the San Jose area, Thomas totaled 59 tackles, six pass breakups and one tackle for loss as a redshirt freshman last season, starting in all 12 games. He earned a Pro Football Focus coverage grade of 64.8, which ranked below Humphrey and Colson last season, allowing 30 catches on 54 targets — a solid reception rate of 56%.
Listed at 6 feet and 186 pounds, Thomas was a three-star prospect out of Los Gatos High, where he earned offers from hometown SJSU and FCS club Cal Poly.
The Cougs are set to lose even more elsewhere in their secondary. Veteran safeties Tucker Large, Cale Reeder and Matthew Durrance are all out of eligibility, which means new coach Kirby Moore and his staff will have to construct a makeover of that position group as well.
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Thomas will be coached by new WSU cornerbacks coach Brandyn Thompson, who held the same position at Cal Poly last year. Thompson played college ball at Boise State, which is how he first connected with Moore.
Listed at 5-foot-11 and 235 pounds, Brown comes to WSU after two years at Kent State, where he started one of 11 games last season. He totaled 58 tackles across those two seasons, including three tackles for loss. He pocketed four quarterback pressures last year.
An Indianapolis native, Brown was a three-star prospect out of Ben Davis High, where he picked up offers from Kent State, Indiana, Marshall, Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green and others.
Brown’s addition will help WSU offset the losses of outgoing senior linebackers Caleb Francl and Parker McKenna, who have exhausted their eligibility. True freshman Sullivan Schlimgen and redshirt freshman Anthony Palano patrolled the middle of the field, but both are in the transfer portal, putting their futures at WSU in doubt. Both profile as candidates to follow former coach Jimmy Rogers to Iowa State, but that much has yet to materialize.
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Thomas’ pledge might have come thanks to SJSU cornerbacks coach Greg Burns, who is expected to be hired as WSU’s new safeties coach, according to a Sunday report from 247 Sports. Burns spent two years with the Spartans. In his first, SJSU’s defense recorded 28 takeaways, tops in the Mountain West Conference and fifth in the country — 21 being from interceptions, which were second most in the country.
Burns has quite the coaching resume. He’s been in the business since 1996, when he got his start as a WSU GA under coach Mike Price. Since then, he’s had stints with Louisville, USC, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kansas State, Arizona State, Cal, Arizona and more. He’s coached DBs at just about every stop.
Burns is the 10th assistant coach on Moore’s staff, which includes offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Matt Miller, defensive coordinator Trent Bray and strength and conditioning coach Malcolm Hardmon. Those three have all been announced by WSU.
Several others have yet to become official, but they’ve been reported: tight ends coach Durham Cato, offensive line coach Jack Abercrombie, cornerbacks coach Brandyn Thompson, defensive line coaches Andrew Browning and Eti Ena and GM/NIL head Brad Larrondo. All have connections to Moore, mostly via Boise State and/or Missouri.
