University of Tennessee Athletics
2023 Football Roster
Roster
Thomas, Omari
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Jersey Number 21
Omari Thomas
- Position:
- DL
- Ht./Wt.:
- 6-4 / 320
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- Memphis, Tenn.
- High School:
- Briarcrest Christian
Bio
CAREER HONORS
2024 NCAA Oversight Committee2022-23 SEC Football Leadership Council
2021 Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll
CAREER
A highly-touted, strong defensive tackle out of Memphis who was a program leader in five seasons with the Vols … Member of the team’s leadership council and served as the Vols’ representative on the SEC Football Leadership Council for three straight seasons ... Served as the SEC’s representative on the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee Student-Athlete Connection Group in 2024 … Started for four straight seasons, playing in 61 career games with 41 starts … Accumulated 115 tackles, 17.0 tackles for loss, five sacks, 13 QB hurries, one fumble recovery, one forced fumble and one blocked kick … Skilled at batting balls down at the line with 12 pass breakups in his career … Graduated from Tennessee in May 2024.2024 – SENIOR
A team captain and starter at defensive tackle for the fourth straight year … Played in all 13 games with 11 starts … Finished with 23 total tackles – 13 solo – to go along with six tackles for loss, one sack, four QB hurries and three pass breakups … Concluded his career with two tackles and one TFL in CFP First Round Game at Ohio State (12/21) … Playing in his 60th career game at UT and making his 40th start, registered two tackles in a 36-23 win in regular-season finale at Vanderbilt (11/30) ... Recorded one tackle - a TFL - in UT’s win over UTEP (11/23) on Senior Day ... Made two tackles and batted down one pass against No. 13Georgia (11/16) ... Totaled three tackles and a half TFL in win over Mississippi State (11/9) ... Notched three tackles with one TFL, one sack and one QBH in UT’s win over Kentucky (11/2) ... Posted two tackles in his 35th career start as the Vols defeated No. 7 Alabama (10/19) ... Reached the 100-tackle mark for his career after making two tackles with one TFL in the Vols’ 23-17 overtime win vs. Florida (10/12) ... Recorded one tackle and one QB hurry at Arkansas (10/5) ... Played 26 snaps and made one tackle in road win at No. 15 Oklahoma (9/21) ... Appeared in his 50th game as a Vol with his 32nd start, tying for the team lead with four tackles to go along with 1.5 TFLs and one pass breakup in UT’s victory over No. 24 NC State (9/7) ... Made his 31st start as a Vol in UT’s season-opening win vs. Chattanooga (8/31), batting down one pass and recording a QB hurry in just 15 snaps.2023 – SENIOR
A starter and leader in the defensive middle … Played in 12 games with 11 starts … Recorded a career-high 35 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, one sack and one blocked kick ... Strong performance on New Year’s Day in 35-0 shutout of No. 17 Iowa in the Citrus Bowl with four tackles and one pass breakup … Tallied four tackles and tied a career high with two QB hurries in victory over Vanderbilt (11/25) ... Made three tackles vs. No. 1 Georgia (11/18) ... Tallied four tackles (three solo) in road win at Kentucky (10/28) ... Finished with two tackles, a TFL and a QB hurry at No. 11/8 Alabama (10/21) ... Had three tackles, including his first sack of the season, in win over South Carolina (9/30) ... Tied his career high with five total tackles in win over UTSA (9/23) ... Blocked an extra-point attempt in the first quarter of UT’s SEC opener at Florida (9/16) ... Had a pair of tackles, including a TFL, in 35 defensive snaps during win over Austin Peay (9/9) ... Started at DT and played 25 defensive snaps in season-opening win vs. Virginia (9/2), finishing with three total tackles and a career-high 1.5 TFLs.2022 – JUNIOR
Started all 13 games at defensive tackle and ranked third among UT linemen with 26 total tackles on the season ... Tied for third on the team with four pass breakups … Added 2.5 tackles for loss, two sacks for a loss of 15 yards and four quarterback hurries ... Finished with two stops in the regular season finale at Vanderbilt (11/26) and in the Orange Bowl win over Clemson (12/30) ... Swatted a pass and posted a pair of tackles at South Carolina (11/19) … Notched a one-yard sack and a QB hurry in win vs. No. 19 Kentucky (10/29) ... Had a pair of tackles in the epic win over No. 3 Alabama (10/15), including a 14-yard sack in the fourth quarter, the second of his career ... Made two assisted tackles including a half-tackle for loss at No. 25 LSU (10/8) and made a stop to stifle a Tigers’ two-point conversion play in the fourth quarter ... Filled the stat sheet in UT’s win over No. 20 Florida (9/24), totaling a career-high five tackles and two QB hurries while also notching his first career forced fumble and a pass breakup in the fourth quarter ... Logged four total tackles and one pass breakup while recording his first-career fumble recovery in UT’s victory at No. 17 Pitt (9/10) ... Started at defensive tackle and had four tackles in season-opening win vs. Ball State (9/1), in addition to a PBU.2021 – SOPHOMORE
Major contributor at defensive tackle and got stronger as the season went on … Played in all 13 games with six starts, recording 21 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack, three QB hurries, four PBUs and one safety ... Starts came against Missouri, South Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, South Alabama and Vanderbilt … Rounded out his sophomore campaign with two tackles vs. Purdue (12/30) in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl ... Made his fourth-straight start at DT vs. Vanderbilt (11/27), logging one tackle, one PBU and one QBH ... Posted three tackles, one TFL, one PBU and one QB hurry in start vs. South Alabama (11/20) ... Earned second straight start vs. top-ranked Georgia (11/13) and logged four tackles and one TFL ... Made his third start of the season at No. 18 Kentucky (11/6), registering one solo tackle in 39 defensive snaps ... Recorded a safety with his first-career sack vs. No. 13 Ole Miss (10/16), dropping Rebel QB Matt Corral for a five-yard loss in the end zone to put the Vols on the board in the first quarter ... Finished the Ole Miss game with a season-high four tackles and one PBU ... Started at DT for the second week in a row vs. South Carolina (10/9), finishing the game with one tackle ... Made first-career start in win at Mizzou (10/2), recording one solo tackle ... Saw action at No. 11 Florida (9/25), making one tackle ... Made two tackles in UT’s 56-0 win over Tennessee Tech (9/18) … Made his season debut vs. Bowling Green (9/2) as a reserve interior lineman, logging one pass breakup and one quarterback hurry.2020 – FRESHMAN
Saw action in all 10 games as a reserve defensive lineman during his true freshman season ... Finished the year with 10 tackles and one tackle for loss ... Played 110 total snaps … Tied a season high with two tackles at Vanderbilt (12/12) ... Made one tackle at No. 23 Auburn (11/21) ... Matched season high with two tackles at Arkansas (11/7) ... Recorded a career-high two tackles, including his first-career TFL in win over Missouri (10/3) ... Made Tennessee debut in season-opening win at South Carolina (9/26), recording one tackle.HIGH SCHOOL
One of the top defensive tackle prospects in the nation … Four-star recruit by 247, ESPN and Rivals … Considered the No. 90 overall prospect in the country by 247 and the No. 10 at his position … Ranked the No. 2 overall prospect in the state of Tennessee by 247 … Led Briarcrest Christian to the Tennessee Division II-AAA playoffs quarterfinals as a senior in 2019 … A 2020 All-American Bowl selection … Ranked No. 11 at his position nationally by Rivals … Recipient of the 2019 Division II-AAA Tennessee Mr. Football and 2019 Memphis Touchdown Club Player of the Year … Named to the 2018 All-USA Tennessee Football First Team Offense … Selected for the AutoZone Liberty Bowl High School All-Star Game … Also played basketball, tennis and track and field (shot put) … Overcame a broken foot his 10th grade year.PERSONAL
Full name is Omari Tyee’ Thomas … Nickname is “Big O” … Born Nov. 2, 2001 … Son of Romarcus and LaWanda Thomas … Has one older sister, Karrington … Father played football at Arkansas State … Earned his degree in journalism and electronic media from Tennessee in May 2024 … Was a member of the 2020-21 VOLeaders Academy and visited Botswana in Southern Africa in the summer of 2022 … High school teammates with former UT running back Jabari Small and VFL men’s basketball’s player Kennedy Chandler … The three of them have been close friends since second grade and played basketball together … Also close friends with teammate Elijah Simmons … Raised money for the Down Syndrome Association of Mid-South, Autism Speaks and the Mowet-Wilson Foundation as a senior in high school ... Recipient of the John R. & Charlotte H. Israel Athletic Scholarship … Enjoys playing video games and outdoor activities … Says his father is his biggest inspiration because he lost an opportunity to play after hurting his knee, so he never takes anything for granted … Favorite movie is “Rush Hour” … Favorite TV show is “All American” … One of his superstitions is to drink a Minute Maid on the day of the game … Enjoys listening to people play musical instruments … Goal beyond football is to either become a sports broadcaster, an investor or a coach … Twitter handle is @901_sxvxge and Instagram handle is @_.bigO.FB | Cinematic Recap vs. ETSU (9.6.25)
Tuesday, September 09
FB | Kelsey Pope Press Conference (9.9.25)
Tuesday, September 09
FB | Arion Carter Media Availability (9.9.25)
Tuesday, September 09
FB | Sam Pendleton Media Availability (9.9.25)
Tuesday, September 09
