University of Maryland Athletics

Thompson arrived in College Park with a plethora of championship level coaching experience, serving as a member of national championship staffs at Alabama, Georgia Tech and LSU. He was a member of four SEC championship coaching staffs, two ACC championship staffs and one Conference USA divisional winner.
 
Additionally, he either coached or recruited players who participated in eight National Championship games, winning seven of those contests (Georgia Tech, LSU twice and Alabama four times).
 
Thompson was ranked as the No. 1 recruiter in the nation on the Ultimate ESPN 300 recruiting power rankings for 2014 when he was coaching at Alabama, and was named Rivals National Recruiter of the Year in 2008, also with the Crimson Tide.
 
In his career that has spanned over 30 years, Thompson has served as an assistant coach at Georgia Tech, Alabama, LSU, UCF, Tennessee, Auburn, South Carolina and Florida Atlantic.
 
Thompson has coached and/or recruited several players who have been selected highly in the NFL Draft, including Julio Jones, Mark Barron, Trent Richardson, D.J. Fluker, Chance Warmack, Marco Coleman, Cornelius Griffin, Marquise Hill, Laron Landry, Tyson Jackson, Coutney Upshaw and Coleman Rudolph.

In two seasons with the Terrapins, Thompson has helped the Maryland defense average the two fewest points per game for the program since 2010. Additionally, he played a large role in the development of Ruben Hyppolite II, who earned All-Big Ten honors in 2023.
 
Most recently at Florida Atlantic, Thompson joined the Owls in the spring of 2019 as the team’s defensive line coach and the program’s recruiting coordinator. In his first year, he mentored a veteran defensive line that combined for 43 tackles for loss, 22 of which were sacks, as well as recording 28 quarterback hurries. The front line also headed up a rushing defense that improved 50 spots nationally from 2018 to 2019, moving from 89th to 39th in the country while giving up 52.3 fewer yards per game. The team's overall scoring defense was 59 spots better, ranking 33rd, and the squad finished 19th in FBS in red zone defense as well.
 
In 2021, Thompson served as the Owls' linebacker coach, where he was received by an experienced group, including the team's leading tackler in Chase Lasater, who recorded 72 tackles in nine 2020 games played, and Caliph Brice, who finished his 2020 campaign with 54 tackles, good enough for third on the squad. 
 
Thompson spent three seasons at South Carolina from 2016-18, where he worked under the direction of head coach Will Muschamp, as the assistant head coach of defense and defensive line coach. In his second season, Thompson helped groom Dante Sawyer into a second-team All-SEC selection, while senior Taylor Stallworth had his finest season for the Garnet & Black. Additionally, junior college transfer Javon Kinlaw developed into a force, proving his skill in 2018 with 38 tackles, including 10 for a loss of 40 yards.
 
Thompson worked at Alabama three different times, from 1999-2000, 2007-08 and 2012-14. He helped Alabama's 2013 defense to hold opponents to 13.9 points per game, the fifth-best mark in Division I college football. His Alabama recruits included Julio Jones, A.J. McCarron, Mark Barron, D.J. Fluker and Trent Richardson.
 
A Nick Saban disciple, Thompson worked with the coaching legend at Alabama and LSU. He was the assistant head coach in charge of recruiting and the tight ends coach when LSU won the 2003 national title. He also coached the defensive line at LSU.
 
Thompson also logged stints at Tennessee (2009-11), Georgia Tech (1988-98, 2001), and Central Florida, where he was defensive coordinator from 2004-06. In 2005, UCF won the Conference USA Eastern Division title. At Georgia Tech, he held various roles, including defensive line coach, defensive ends coach, tight ends coach, recruiting coordinator and director of football operations. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant with the Yellow Jackets in 1988.
 
Thompson is a 1987 graduate of The Citadel, where he was a four-year letterwinner as a defensive lineman, and earned his bachelor's degree in education and mathematics.
 
A native of Riverdale, Ga., Thompson has three daughters -- Allie, Christina and Lane.

Updated July 10, 2024