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Rob Thompson
Rob Thompson is in his 14th season as a member of the Ole Miss soccer staff and his ninth as Associate Head Coach since being promoted in 2015.
Thompson was pivotal in the development of Ashley Orkus into arguably the top keeper in the nation since her arrival at Ole Miss in 2018. Orkus was the first-ever three-time SEC Goalkeeper of the Year, one of two players in program history to garner United Soccer Coaches All-America status multiple times and in 2021 became Ole Miss' first-ever First Team All-American. Orkus was also named a semifinalist for the 2021 MAC Hermann Trophy, the only keeper to make the cut for college soccer's top individual honor and just the second Rebel ever to garner a semifinalist nod. When Orkus wrapped up her career in 2022, she has become Ole Miss' all-time leader in both career saves and shutouts and is the only Rebel goalkeeper to ever cross the 300 saves mark.
The 2018 season marked the end of Rebel keeper Marnie Merritt's lauded career between the posts. Under Thompson's direction, Merritt became a four-year starter at Ole Miss, finishing her career ranked second in school history in saves (277), shutouts (21) and wins (40). Additionally, the Hough High School product's 1.31 career goals against average is the sixth-lowest at Ole Miss.
Merritt collected four clean sheets during her senior campaign before having her final season cut short due to injury. True freshman Morgan McAslan was thrust into the spotlight for the final eight matches of the season and with the help of Thompson's guidance performed admirably. The freshman picked up the win in five of her eight appearances, recording three-straight shutouts to close out the regular season.
The Ole Miss defense proved to by stingy in 2017, especially during the non-conference schedule. The Rebels completed the fifth undefeated non-league slate in program history, allowing a single goal on the way to a 7-0-1 record. In total, the Rebels surrendered 23 goals, including eight shutouts on the season. Following the regular season, Ole Miss earned its third bid to the NCAA Championships in the last five seasons.
Thompson helped guide the Rebels to their first-ever NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in program history in 2015. Under the assistance of Thompson, Ole Miss surged to a national ranking of No. 12 midway through the year, its highest rank in school history. The Rebels also closed the book on the season as the No. 16 team in the nation in the postseason poll, the best finish in the history of the program.
Thompson’s teachings were apparent in 2015 as the Rebels pitched nine shutouts, including two versus top-10 teams in No. 10 Auburn and No. 10 South Carolina. Merritt, who made her collegiate debut in the 2015 campaign, made it a good one under Thompson’s direction. Thompson’s instructions paid off as Merritt totaled seven individual shutouts, fourth-most in a single season in school history.
The 2013 season saw the Rebel defense help Ole Miss to a record-setting 16 wins that included 10 shutout victories behind the play of junior goalkeeper Kelly McCormick. The keeper became the winningest goalkeeper in program history, 34 victories for her career under the tutelage of Thompson. In the 2012 season, McCormick helped the Rebels post eight shutout victories, including a stretch of four-consecutive shutouts as Ole Miss rolled to an 8-0 start to set the best start to a season in program history. In that stretch of shutouts, the McCormick and the Rebels played 483 minutes of shutout soccer, setting a new school record.
Upon his hiring Thompson brought high-level experience in training goalkeepers to the Rebel program. Following a two-year hiatus from college coaching for family reasons, he came back to the SEC, where he was an assistant at Georgia from 2005-08.
While in Athens, he helped lead the Bulldogs to their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2003 and just their second appearance in the SEC Tournament championship game. Georgia went 40-19-4 during his three seasons, and he helped develop goalkeeper Michelle Betos into an SEC All-Freshman pick who would go on to rank among the all-time school and conference leaders in shutouts and saves.
Thompson was an assistant at Florida State for two seasons, where he helped the Seminoles reach back-to-back NCAA Tournaments, including the 2003 College Cup Semifinals. He trained goalkeeper Joy McKenzie to All-ACC and All-Region status, while she broke several school records along the way.
A native of Grimbsy, England, his extensive experience as a goalkeeper coach on the professional and collegiate levels also includes the WUSA's New York Power (2002-03), Adelphi University men (2001-02), the A-League's Long Island Rough Riders (1998-01) and Lock Haven University men and women (1995-98).
He has also been a member of the ODP Region III coaching staff since 2003.
Thompson holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Lock Haven University (Pa.), where he was a three-time all-conference and two-time all-region player in soccer. He has two sons, Michael and Liam.
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