Thomas Orr came to Howard Payne in May of 2023 after three seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor from 2020-2023.

Before UMHB, Orr spent one season at the University of the Ozarks (2019-20) and two seasons at Texas Lutheran University (2017-2019).

At Texas Lutheran, he helped lead the Bulldogs to a pair of Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships during his tenure.

He started his collegiate coaching career as a student assistant at UMHB in 2013-14 and also has experience coaching at the Texas high school level at Buffalo High School and in the Longview ISD.

As a student-athlete, Orr was a two-year letter winner for the UMHB men’s basketball team and was UMHB’s leading scorer when the team advanced to the NCAA Division III National Championship Game his senior season. Orr was a D3hoops.com All-South Region selection, an ASC All-Conference, and an ASC All-West Division pick that year.

A native of Hutto, Texas, he graduated from UMHB with a degree in interdisciplinary studies in 2014 and earned a graduate degree in sport management from Franklin-Pierce University in 2016.