Thom Kaumeyer Named New PCC Football Head Coach

In a move that is expected to change the fortunes of the Pasadena City College football program, the college selected veteran defensive guru Thom Kaumeyer as its new head football coach. Kaumeyer’s hiring was approved at the Pasadena Area Community College District Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday night. He becomes the 25th head coach in the college’s 90-year history playing the sport.

Kaumeyer, 48, brings a wealth of experience, a career of more than 20 years of coaching at the NFL, NCAA Division I, and California Community College levels. Last year, he joined the defensive staff of the Japanese pro league Fujitsu Frontiers and helped them win the X League championship. Prior to that he served as defensive coordinator at the University of Hawaii in 2012-13.

It is the first community college head coaching position for Kaumeyer since 1994 when he directed Palomar College to an 8-3 record, a bowl victory and a No. 18 final national ranking on the JC Grid-Wire Top 25. He was then head coach for the Onward Kashiyama Oaks, a pro team in Japan in 1995-96.

Kaumeyer began his coaching career at Palomar from 1991-94, serving as an assistant on two national champion Comets teams in ’91 and ’93. He spent a second stint at Palomar from 1998-2000 when he was a defensive coordinator and special teams coach, manufacturing a third national title in ’98.

From 2000-01, Kaumeyer served as an assistant coach (defensive quality control) for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons. In 2002, he began a five-year tenure at San Diego State University as a defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach. In 2003, he was responsible for SDSU making a dramatic leap from 95th in the previous season to No. 8 in the nation’s top 10 for total defense. Kaumeyer moved on to Tulane University for one season as defensive coordinator in 2007.

He returned to the NFL from 2008-2011 as an assistant defensive backs coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Kaumeyer’s influence included guiding the development of 2009 draft choice Derek Cox into the team’s interceptions leader for two straight seasons. In his final year, Jacksonville finished No. 6 defensively in the NFL in yards allowed.

As a player, Kaumeyer was an All-American safety at Palomar, then an All-Pac 10 selection at the University of Oregon (1987-88). He was chosen in the sixth round of the 1989 NFL Rookie Draft by the Los Angeles Rams and eventually enjoyed a brief pro career with the Seattle Seahawks and New York Giants (1989-92).

“What stood out with Thom was his success with students at the community college level,” said PCC Athletic Director Tony Barbone. “He is a proven commodity as a defensive specialist at the university level and in the pros. However, there is no telling how many more great seasons he would have put together at this level had he remained a head coach. Now, he will get that opportunity and provide stability to PCC football. He will command respect and the student-athletes will benefit from learning from Thom’s leadership and skill set.”

A native of Encinatas, Kaumeyer earned a bachelor’s degree in American studies at Regents University (New York) and then his master’s in education at Azusa Pacific University in 1998.

Kaumeyer has the task of turning around a Lancers gridiron program that struggled in recent seasons. The team hasn’t finished a year better than .500 since 2008. The Lancers program produced six conference crowns and achieved three national titles during the 1970s. Kaumeyer experienced similar greatness in his time at Palomar.

“Accountability was a big part of the success we had at Palomar” Kaumeyer said. “The belief that was that no one person was more important than the team. With team success, you get individual success and that includes greater scholarship opportunities to move on to Division I universities.”

Kaumeyer will draw from his NFL experiences in coaching at PCC.

“If I learned one thing in the NFL, it was that attention to detail was the key. People matched up physically the same way, but it was the mental game, the precision, and the ability to stay focused every down that was the difference between winning and losing.”

On education, he said, “That’s a No. 1 goal to see that players stay on task in the classroom by helping monitor their progress. The student-athletes have a great resource in our Academic Athletic Zone here. It’s one thing to coach a team to become a champion or a bowl winner, but if those players are not doing enough in the classroom, then it’s all for not. These student-athletes need to qualify and be on academic track in order to take advantage of the many major university scholarship opportunities out there.”

Kaumeyer will make his PCC coaching debut on Saturday, Sept. 5 when the Lancers travel to face El Camino College (at Redondo Union High). His Robinson Stadium debut is Sept. 12 v. Grossmont.