Thurmond was cornerbacks coach at Alabama from 2001 to 2002 under Dennis Franchione; Alabama won the 2001 Independence Bowl. Thurmond then followed Franchione to Texas A&M in 2003 and was cornerbacks coach there until 2005. From 2006 to 2007, Thurmond was cornerbacks coach and recruiting coordinator at Houston under Art Briles. After Briles resigned to accept the head coaching job at Baylor, Thurmond served as Houston interim head coach for the 2007 Texas Bowl;[5] Houston lost to TCU.
From 2008 to 2010, Thurmond was defensive backs coach at Kentucky, under Rich Brooks from 2008 to 2009 then Joker Phillips in 2010. Thurmond's tenure at Kentucky included a win in the 2009 Liberty Bowl following the 2008 season.[6] In 2011, Thurmond joined David Bailiff's staff at Rice to be cornerbacks coach; Thurmond added defensive coordinator to his duties in 2012.[6] Rice won the 2012 Armed Forces Bowl in Thurmond's first season as defensive coordinator.