Thomas Tate (born February 26, 1956) is an American football coach and athletics administrator.
He compiled a record of 49–26 led the McNeese State Cowboys to three consecutive Southland Conference titles, from 2001 to 2003.
Tate was given the Eddie Robinson Award in 2002 as the coach of the year in NCAA Division I-AA, when he guided the Cowboys to a 13–2 record and an appearance in the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship, where his team finished as runners-up.
[2] He was replaced by Matt Viator, who coached McNeese to a 6–2 record the rest of the way (finishing 7–5) and earned the school another Southland Conference title.
Tate was appointed as head coach in June 2000 after Bruchhaus resigned amid allegations that he had bet on professional and college football games.