The University of Mississippi Athletics
Thompson Named Associate Head Coach
1/9/2015 | Soccer
OXFORD, Miss. - After five years serving as an assistant coach with the Rebel program working with the goalkeepers, Rob Thompson has been promoted to the position of associate head coach it was announced by head coach Matthew Mott on Friday.
"We're very happy to announce we've promoted Rob Thompson to the position of associate head coach," Mott said. "It's a promotion he certainly deserves considering the work he's put in for our program. His work with our team over the past five years developing goal keepers like Kelly McCormick has been fantastic. He's been a big key to our success. I look forward to him helping us work toward our goal of winning championships here at Ole Miss."
"I would like to thank Matt (Mott), Ross Bjork and Lynnette Johnson for giving me the opportunity to become the associate head coach here at Ole Miss," Thompson said. "I'm very excited to take on this new role and continue working with an excellent group of student-athletes and staff here with the Ole Miss program."
Thompson joined the Rebels five seasons ago with the arrival of Mott in Oxford and quickly helped turn the Rebels into a solid defensive team through the development of goalkeeper Kelly McCormick.
Over the course of the past five seasons, the Rebels have posted 36 total shutouts, including 10 shutouts in the 2013 season when Ole Miss set the school record for wins with a 16-6-2 record on the year and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
That 2013 season marked the fifth trip to the NCAA Tournament for the Rebels and only the second time in program history for Ole Miss to advance past the first round. The Rebels also hosted an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in school history, defeating Jackson State by a score of 9-0 on the way to a showdown with eventual NCAA Tournament runner-up Florida State.
Working with four-year starter McCormick in goal, Thompson developed one of the finest goalkeepers in Ole Miss history as McCormick rewrote the history books to grab the top spot in several statistical categories. At the completion of her career in the 2014 season, McCormick sat atop the record book in total wins (42), saves (297), minutes played in goal (6,839) and tied for first in shutout victories (22).
Thompson will continue to work with the goalkeepers at Ole Miss with two returning keepers on roster heading into the offseason in redshirt freshman Madi Killeen and freshman Marnie Merritt competing to take over the starting job for the Rebels in the 2015 season.
