CCS to host free Omari Thomas camp
Former Vols defensive lineman Omari Thomas will be holding a camp from 9 a.m. to noon this Saturday at Concord Christian Academy.
The camp is for current fifth- through eighth-graders, and it will be free with a complimentary t-shirt given to any attendee.
This is not the first UT-affiliated camp at CCS, as it hosted two camps last year — one through former Tennessee quarterbacks Heath Shuler and Erik Ainge and another through Cade and Cooper Mays, both of whom played for current Concord coach Steve Matthews when he was at Knoxville Catholic.
“Those were huge successes, and they were both in the summer,” Matthews said. “This one, we thought, ‘Let’s do one in February. It’s a dead time for a lot of these young men. I don’t know Omari really well, but we have a mutual friend that came across my landscape and mentioned that he’s a great young man who wanted to give back to the knoxville community.”
Matthews noted other current and former Tennessee players may be there, though he didn’t know who.
Thomas, a Memphis native, started for four of his five seasons on Rocky Top. He served as a team captain his senior year and totaled 115 tackles through his career — 17 for loss with five sacks, 13 QB hurries, one fumble recovery, one forced fumble and one blocked kick.
Also, he represented Tennessee on the SEC Football Leadership Council and served as the SEC’s representative on the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee Student-Athlete Connection Group in 2024.
Now, he will look to bring that leadership to the gridiron at CCS for one unique Saturday.
“We are definitely looking forward to it,” Matthews said.
