Anchored by faith and family, Payton Thorne finds new challenge at Auburn

AUBURN, Ala. – As the temperatures started dropping into the 50s and 60s this fall in Auburn, the students on campus started breaking out the heavy jackets. Payton Thorne had to laugh. That’s still t-shirt weather where he’s from in the Midwest. So, how did Thorne, a coach’s kid from just outside Chicago, end up in the SEC as the starting quarterback at Auburn?

To answer that, you first need to understand who Thorne is and what it is that drives him.

First and foremost, it’s his faith.

“My why every time I step out there is playing for my Heavenly Father and just trying to give back to Him what He’s given to me,” Thorne said. “It’s been the No. 1 most important part of my life. My parents have instilled that in me. Just going out there to glorify Him and do all I can to be at my best.”

For Thorne, though, where his why comes from is threefold. Faith might be the most important part of it and of who he is as a man, but his family has just as much to do with his motivation. There would be no football without his family.

“As I’ve gotten older and been able to see and understand more of what my parents have done for me, I just can’t be more thankful for them and how they raised me and the things that they sacrificed for me growing up,” Thorne said. “I feel like I owe it to them to put all I can into this and try to make the most out of it.”

The last part of the why for Thorne is his will to succeed and his love for football. He is the ultimate competitor, and that extra drive, that fear of being average, is the reason he ended up at Auburn. 

“I don’t ever want to be average in life,” Thorne said. “I’ve always loved football, and I’ve always wanted to be the best I can. I strive every day to get there. And I don’t think I ever will get there, but if I keep striving every single day to get there – whenever I’m done, I’ll be satisfied with however it ended.”

Football is all Thorne has ever known. He was born in 2001. The very next year, his grandfather John took over as the head coach at North Central College, a Division III college in Naperville, Illinois. Thorne’s father Jeff, who played quarterback at Eastern Illinois, joined his father (Payton’s grandfather) as the offensive coordinator.

The father-son duo coached at North Central College the next 13 years. In 2014, John retired as the head coach and was replaced by his son Jeff who served as the head coach from 2015 to 2021 and guided the program to a Division III national championship in 2019.

“It was cool to see my grandpa and my dad – their vision for that program and everything they put into it – for them to get to that point,” Thorne said. “This year, (North Central College) is ranked as the No. 1 team in the country again. They built a powerhouse from the ground up. It’s been cool to be a distant part of that, and growing up in that was cool all my life."

There are positives and negatives that come with being a coach’s son. Obviously, there’s a significant time commitment made by coaches at any level – from Division III to Auburn. That’s time away from home.

“On Sunday, Monday and sometimes Tuesday, I wouldn’t even see him at night,” Thorne said. “I’d be asleep before he got back home. Part of that did teach me what working hard looked like. I knew he wasn’t putzing around.”

At the same time, Thorne had some benefits growing up not afforded to most kids.

“You get to go shoot hoops whenever you want to at the gym,” he said. “You get to go play on a turf field whenever you want to. You get to sit in on meetings if you want to. My dad always took me on trips with him to visiting schools, so I got to experience all that my whole life. I got to watch him and my grandpa lead a team, and I’ve learned a ton from them.”

After coaching 19 seasons at North Central College, six as the head coach, Jeff Thorne left following the 2021 season to be the offensive coordinator at Western Michigan in 2022. This year, however, he’s not coaching at all. Instead, he’s getting to watch his son play at Auburn.

“It’s been awesome,” Payton said. “It’s been cool to have him as a full-time spectator. It’s hard for him because he’s not used to it. He’s learning how to be a fan. I think he’s done a good job so far. I definitely think he’s enjoying it.”

Thorne’s father also tagged along on the road trip in the spring that ultimately concluded with a commitment to Auburn. The two were driving back from former teammate Jayden Reed’s NFL Draft party in Miami and made a stop in Auburn to visit head coach Hugh Freeze.

Thorne had spent his first four years in college at Michigan State where he was a three-year letterwinner for the Spartans and a team captain in 2021 and 2022, but with that mentality of always striving to be better, he entered the transfer portal after last season. He wanted a new opportunity, a new challenge.

It just so happened that Auburn was in the market for a new quarterback.

“The first thing is just the Auburn name,” Thorne said. “Growing up, understanding that Auburn is a huge brand, it’s big-time football. It’s one of those programs that it means something.

“And then Coach Freeze. He’s an offensive head coach, a guy who has had success offensively and with quarterbacks. It really drew me here. I have a lot of respect for Coach. I got to see campus, see this facility, which is outstanding, and then just get a feel for these people down here – I love the people, I can’t say it enough. It’s been really nice.”

It was a perfect match. Thorne signed with Freeze and the Tigers just days after his visit. Less than four months later, he was named the team’s starting quarterback.

Through nine games this season, the graduate transfer has thrown for 1,269 yards and 10 touchdowns while completing 63.9 percent of his passes. However, he’s found a different gear the last two weeks, completing 37 of 53 passes for 424 yards and five touchdowns.

More importantly, Auburn has won both games, beating Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.

“It’s been rewarding for sure the past couple weeks,” Thorne said. “I don’t want to say that it’s relief because we still have a lot in front of us that we want to accomplish. It’s still a work in progress. But it definitely feels good for us as an offense to play better and play closer to what we expect to play and also get back-to-back wins.”

Never satisfied. Never complacent. A true competitor in every sense.

“I put everything into this,” Thorne said. “I would give just about anything to win. That’s my mindset every day.”