BREAKING: LSU signs Pitt TE Malachi Thomas

LSU head coach Lane Kiffin and the Tigers hosted a handful of transfer portal targets over the weekend, and the visits led to multiple commits.

On Monday morning, Utah running back Raycine Guillory signed with the Tigers.

On Monday around noon, Pitt tight end Malachi Thomas also signed with LSU, he tells The Bengal Tiger’s Shea Dixon.

Thomas said he signed on Monday after visiting Baton Rouge over the weekend, then quickly chose to shut things down and join Kiffin and the Tigers.

Thomas was recruited to LSU by new tight ends coach Joe Cox, who was also on staff in the same role under Kiffin at Ole Miss.

Thomas is the third portal addition for LSU after the 14-day window opened on Jan. 2. The first commitment came from another visitor this weekend in Hawaii wide receiver Jackson Harris.

Thomas, who signed with Pitt in 2024, caught 13 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns as a backup this season. The 6-foot-4, 240 pounder signed with the Panthers out of Thomas County Central (Thomasville, Ga.).

From the Pitt view, the decision made by Thomas to enter the portal was surprising given he was slatedto be the starter next season after playing in a backup role in 2025.

For LSU, with Trey’Dez Green returning for his junior season as the team’s starting tight end, the departures of Bauer Sharpe, who is out of eligibility, and backup tight end Donovan Green, who entered the transfer portal, left freshman JD LaFleur as the lone other scholarship tight end on roster.

LSU was expected to add at least one tight end in the portal, and getting Thomas to campus right when the portal opened showed how high new LSU tight ends coach Joe Cox and the staff are on the Pitt transfer.

At his introductory press conference, Kiffin said the pitch from LSU and Athletics Director Verge Ausberry came with a strong backing for support in the new era of college athletics revenue sharing and NIL.

“There’s a great plan here,” Kiffin said. “There’s a great plan of how we can come together with what we bring and what players around the country want to play for us and play in our systems and then have that support to be able to do that so that they want to play for us and they get taken care of financially.”