Thompson to coach ASU in bowl game

Thursday, December 6, 2012

— For a second consecutive season, Arkansas State’s bowl preparations won’t include the head coach who guided the Red Wolves to the postseason.

Arkansas State announced late Wednesday evening that defensive coordinator John Thompson will serve as ASU’s interim head coach during its GoDaddy.com Bowl game against No. 25 Kent State on Jan. 6. The move comes one day after Gus Malzahn left to take the head coaching job at Auburn.

“We are confident he will help our football programmake a smooth transition into the postseason while also giving this team a tremendous opportunity to finish the season on a successful note,” ASU Athletic Director Terry Mohajir said in statement.

The decision came after Mohajir had a morning discussionwith Malzahn about coaching the Red Wolves in the bowl game.

Mohajir said during a news conference Wednesdaymorning that Malzahn passed along “certain details” to him that he had to discuss with ASU Chancellor Tim Hudson moving forward and remained quiet about whether ASU would go with an interim coach.

Malzahn was reportedly conducting initial interviews for his Auburn coaching staff. A footballscoop.com report said Malzahn let go all of former Coach Gene Chizik’s staff and has hired former Southern Mississippi Coach Ellis Johnson as his defensive coordinator.

Mohajir said he made the move knowing that Malzahn “will be understandably consumed with his commitments to Auburn and not be able to give his full attention to this team.”

Thompson, a Forrest City native, has head coaching experience during his 30-year career, guiding East Carolina to a 3-20 record in two seasons before stepping down late in the 2004 season.

“We have a mature group of players with strong leadership, and I am certain this team and coaching staff will rise to the occasion,” Thompson said in a statement. “This team has improved on a weekly basis, and we expect it to continue to get better and compete at an even higher level.”

It’s unclear how many members of Malzahn’s current staff plan to remain in Jonesboro over the next month ahead of the Jan. 6 meeting with the Golden Flashes in Mobile, Ala.

ASU went through a similar situation last season after Hugh Freeze left after the regular season to take the head coaching job at Ole Miss, with ASU assistant coach David Gunn taking over coaching duties for the bowl.

The ASU coaching staff was left shorthanded after defensive coordinator Dave Wommack, linebackers coachTom Allen, defensive line coach Chris Kiffin and tight ends coach Maurice Harris joined Freeze at Ole Miss.

Gunn’s knitted-together staff, which included current Nashville High School Coach Billy Dawson and then-unemployed defensive line coach Kenny Ingram, coached ASU in a 38-20 loss to Northern Illinois.

Mohajir made an early pitch for potential new coaches Tuesday, noting that the program has won backto-back Sun Belt Conferencetitles, offers a competitive salary and has embarked on facility upgrades in the form of a planned $22 million indoor practice facility and football operations center at the north end of Liberty Bank Stadium.

The school has chosen an architect and general contractor for the project, while prominent booster Wallace Fowler told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Tuesday there is roughly $10 million so far for a critical piece of infrastructure at a school where the athletic budget is roughly $13.4 million.

“We have not abandoned these audacious ambitions,” Hudson said. “We look forward to completing a stadium renovation and finding someone who’s excited to be a member of the pack.”

Mohajir said Wednesday that his phone “has been ringing off the hook” with calls from representatives of coaches who range from the NFL to top FCS programs.

“They’re out there and very interested,” Mohajir said. “We’re going to get a great coach, the right one for our program and the right one for our kids.”

This will be the first coaching search led by Mohajir, who will work with Hudson and ASU System President Charles Welch. A year ago,Mohajir was working as a chief fund-raiser for the University of Kansas’ basketball program and overseeing its media rights deals while Athletic Director Sheahon Zenger led the two-week search that landed Charlie Weis to replace Turner Gill as the school’s football coach.

“Just dealt with it last year,” Mohajir said. “So it’s fresh in my mind.”

Mohajir said Wednesday that there isn’t “a real timeline right now” on finding ASU’s next coach.

“We are going to get the right coach at the right time,” Mohajir said. “We’re poised and ready to go.”

Sports, Pages 17 on 12/06/2012