Solomon Thomas was initially committed to play college football at Florida State. He flipped to LSU on Early Signing Day in large part because of former Seminoles coach Alex Atkins.
Mike Norvell’s decision to shake up his staff ultimately landed the Tigers one of the best offensive linemen in the country.
Thomas, a native of the Sunshine State, is ranked as the second-best interior lineman in the country. He is a five-star prospect in the college football recruiting Class of 2025 with offers from 34 schools including Alabama, Ohio State, Auburn, South Carolina, Rutgers, Clemson, Miami, Oregon and Penn State, among others. Any school in the country would love to have him.
Florida State initially received Thomas’ commitment in December of 2023. It seemed as though he was locked in on the Seminoles despite one visit to Gainesville and one visit to Baton Rouge late in the spring. The 6-foot-4, 315-pound guard took six trips to Tallahassee in 2024.
And then everything changed when Norvell fired Atkins on Nov. 10. His current players took it pretty hard.
It was difficult for the team. I’ll just say it was something that, you know, that hurt everybody. But it’s a part of life, so everybody just, you know, moved on. But coach Atkins was dear to my heart. A great O-line coach; a real person, he was a father figure [to me].
— Maurice Smith
Thomas was also impacted by the news and with Atkins gone, he flipped to LSU. The latter actually helped to sway the former. Thomas first posted the following message on Nov. 11:
Ngl yall messed up firing my coach@CoachAAtkins 🤞🏾@FSUFootball pic.twitter.com/LEln6Mt4fj
— Solomon “LIL SOL” Thomas🥼 (@SolomonThomas2x) November 11, 2024
Not long thereafter, he got on the phone with Alex Atkins for an honest conversation about the recruiting process. Thomas wanted to know his thoughts on LSU offensive line coach Brad Davis. Atkins had nothing but great things to say.
I asked my Ex-Coach at Florida State about the offensive line coach at LSU (Brad Davis) he was like he’s a great dude on and off the field he’ll take care of you beyond the football aspect of it.
— Solomon Thomas
It was that discussion that swung the pendulum. Solomon Thomas was already considering a change, but he officially decommitted from Florida State after talking with a coach who was fired by Florida State.
Fired FSU coach Alex Atkins played a pivotal role in flipping 5⭐️ OG Solomon Thomas from FSU to LSU. pic.twitter.com/EIg4uKr4L6
— Rivals (@Rivals) December 29, 2024
At the end of the day, Mike Norvell made the decision that was best for him and his program. Solomon Thomas made the decision that is best for him and his future. These things happen.
However, Thomas might’ve stayed committed to Florida State if Atkins was still there!