ASU Football: Chris Thomsen (Finally) Hired as Sun Devils Running Backs Coach

UPDATE: 12:30pm January 11:

It's official, as the school has announced the hire.

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On December 16th of 2011, Arizona State head coach hired Chris Thomsen as his running backs coach.

On February 2nd, just six weeks later, Thomsen left to become the offensive line coach at Texas Tech.

Last week, Larry Porter, who was hired to replace Thomsen as ASU's running backs coach, left for the same job at Texas.

Then, CoachingSearch.com said that Thomsen was back...but he wasn't. At least then. Now he is. Got all that?

The news of Thomsen's official return was first broken by Tyler Lockman of Fox Sports Arizona, and later confirmed by numerous sources, including DevilsDigest.com and ASUDevils.com.

#ASU coach Todd Graham told me today a new running backs coach has been hired. A source tells me it is Chris Thomsen. bit.ly/XTtyke

— Tyler Lockman (@TylerLockman) January 11, 2013

In addition to a full frequent flyer miles account, Thomsen brings an impressive resume to the desert.

Before coming to ASU the first time, Thomsen was the head coach at Division II Abilene Christian, where he led the team to a 47-15 mark over his last six seasons, and won the Lone Star Conference South Division Coach of the Year award four times. His teams annually featured dynamic offenses, including a game in which ACU scored 93 points.

At Texas Tech, he coached the offensive line until December 10th, when he was named the team's interim head coach after Tommy Tuberville left to take the head coaching job at Cincinnati. He guided the Red Raiders to a Meineke Car Care Bowl win over Minnesota on December 29th.