ECU Names John Thompson Head Football Coach
December 20, 2002 | Football
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GREENVILLE, N.C. -- One of the most highly regarded defensive coaches in the country, John Thompson has been selected as the 18th head football coach in East Carolina University history, Athletic Director Mike Hamrick announced Friday.
Hamrick, along with ECU chancellor Dr. William V. Muse, introduced Thompson at a press conference Friday morning at the Murphy Center.
"We are extremely excited about having John Thompson as the new head coach of our football program," Hamrick stated. "We had an excellent pool of candidates and I feel that he stood out above the rest. He brings an outstanding reputation as a coach, motivator, and recruiter and we are looking forward to him leading our program for many years to come."
Thompson, 47, comes to ECU from the University of Florida, where he served this past season as the Gators' defensive coordinator. The Gator defense is ranked 22nd nationally overall and third in pass defense.
He replaces Steve Logan, who resigned on Dec. 7 after 11 seasons at the helm of the Pirate program.
His 21-year collegiate coaching career includes 19 seasons as a defensive coordinator with stops at four schools in the Southeastern Conference--Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, and LSU. He has also held assistant coaching positions at Conference USA members Memphis and Southern Miss, along with appointments at Louisiana Tech and Northwestern (La.) State.
In all, Thompson has coached three defensive units that have led their respective conferences in defense, and has guided one of the nation's top 25 defensive units in four of the past six years. Twenty-one of his defensive players have been drafted or signed by NFL teams, 40 have earned all-conference honors, and five have been named All-America.
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A native of Forrest City, Ark., Thompson began his coaching career in the high school ranks in 1977 while pursuing his bachelor's degree at the University of Central Arkansas. He graduated with a bachelor of science degree in physical education in 1978 and went on to serve as an assistant coach at Conway, Forrest City, and Arkadelphia High Schools, all in his native state, before moving to the college ranks at the University of Arkansas as a graduate assistant for the 1982 season.
His first full-time assignment as a collegiate coach came at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La., where he served as defensive coordinator and coached the secondary and linebackers from 1983-86. His 1984 NSU defensive unit led all of Division I-AA in scoring defense. After a one-year stint as linebackers coach at the University of Alabama in 1987, he returned to Northwestern State for the 1988 and 1989 seasons, serving in the same capacity as his first tenure with the Demons.
In 1990, Thompson moved about 80 miles north to serve as defensive coordinator, linebackers coach, and defensive ends coach at Louisiana Tech University. He served two seasons (1990 and 1991) on the Bulldogs' staff and led the defensive unit to a No. 23 ranking in total defense, No. 19 in scoring defense, and No. 8 in rushing defense.
Thompson was the mastermind behind the dominant Southern Miss defense of the mid-1990s as he took over the position of defensive coordinator for the Golden Eagles in 1992, was given the additional title of assistant head coach in 1993, and remained with that program until 1998. Along the way, Southern Miss won or shared two Conference USA titles, ranked among the top 25 nationally in scoring defense twice, and made two bowl appearances.
He had comparable accomplishments in 1999 as defensive coordinator at Memphis as his Tiger defense ranked 11th nationally in scoring defense and 20th in total defense.
In December 1999, Thompson made his move to the SEC when he was named defensive coordinator at LSU, where he designed and implemented the Tigers' defensive game plan for their bowl game that season.
The move was shortlived as he took advantage of an opportunity to move back to his home state in January 2000 as defensive coordinator at Arkansas. As co-coordinator in 2000, his Razorbacks were second in the nation in pass defense and led the SEC in both pass defense and total defense. As the sole coordinator in 2001, he helped guide the team to a 2002 Cotton Bowl appearance as the Razorbacks improved in sacks, tackles for losses and turnover margin.
He was appointed as defensive coordinator at Florida in February 2002 and has helped the Gators to an 8-4 record and a berth in the Outback Bowl against Michigan. Allowing just 149.3 passing yards per game, his Florida pass defense is the best by a UF team since 1988.
Thompson's brief playing career includes time spent as a prep quarterback at Forrest City (Ark.) High School and two seasons at defensive back at Central Arkansas.
Thompson and his wife, Charleen, have two children, Cabe (7) and Hays (5).
