New WMU Bronco OC Has Quite A Pedigree And You Won’t Believe Who His Son Is

So when WMU Broncos Head Coach Tim Lester brought in Jeff Thorne to be his new offensive coordinator, he had to know about the season opener, this Friday night. If the name sounds familiar, it's because Jeff Thorne's son is Michigan State quarterback Payton Thorne. But Jeff Thorne is no stranger to father and son football stories. More on that in a second. And apparently there are no hard feelings as Payton originally committed to Western before switching to State.

Payton tells the Detroit Free-Press it's no big deal for several reasons: Dad Jeff isn't coaching directly against his son, and Jeff will be calling plays from the press box, so son won't have to see Dad's glare. But this the second generation of father/son football for the Thorne family. Jeff played in high school (in Wheaton, Illinois) for his dad, John Thorne. Then, after college, Jeff joined John's coaching staff his high school, Wheaton-Warrenville. When John took the head coaching job at North Central College, Jeff followed as offensive coordinator. They won a lot of games together. After John retired seven years ago, Jeff took over before coming over to WMU this season.

If Miami of Ohio was the cradle of coaches back in the day, what to do you call Jeff's alma mater, Eastern Illinois? Thorne quarterbacked the Panthers in the early 90's. He's the school's fourth all-time leading quarterback; ahead of him are Jimmy Garoppolo, Sean Payton, and Tony Romo.