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Auburn Football Coaching Staff Complete: Tigers Hire Lance Thompson as Linebackers Coach

By Nicholas Ian Allen

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The Auburn football on-field coaching staff is now complete with the addition of Lance Thompson as linebackers coach.

The hire was officially announced Wednesday morning.

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“I’m really excited and very appreciative to be joining the Auburn football family and work with Coach Malzahn, Coach Muschamp and the entire staff,” Thompson said in a statement released by the university. “I have a great amount of respect for Coach Malzahn and what he represents and what he has accomplished in a short period of time.

“I hope to bring my strengths to the program to help Auburn football achieve its goals of winning a national championship. I’m blessed to be joining Coach Malzahn’s staff and the Auburn family.”

Thompson joins the Tigers’ staff after a three-year stint as the linebackers coach at Alabama. With the Crimson Tide, Thompson earned a reputation as a top notch recruiter, and was ranked as the nation’s 5th best recruiter this year by 247Sports, the top recruiter last year in the Ultimate ESPN300 power rankings, and Recruiter of the Year in 2008 by Rivals.com.

That appears to be a common theme for the Tigers with defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson and defensive line coach Rodney Garner all carrying sterling reputations as quality recruiters.

The timing of the hire also comes at a valuable time for recruiting. Many Auburn recruits will be on campus this weekend for official visits, and the recruiting dead period ends at midnight Thursday.

“I’m excited to have Lance Thompson join our staff. Lance is very familiar with Will having worked with him before,” Malzahn said. “He’s an outstanding coach and an outstanding recruiter who is very familiar with our state and the Southeastern Conference. Lance will be a great addition to our staff.”

Prior to joining the staff at Alabama in 2012, Thompson worked there on two previous occasions – as the linebackers coach in 2007-08 and as the defensive line coach in 1999-2000. Thompson has also coach at Tennessee (2009-11), UCF (2004-06), LSU (2002-03, where he worked with Muschamp) and Georgia Tech (1995-98, 2001).

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    • In addition to spending seven seasons coaching linebackers, Thompson has been a defensive line coach, tight ends coach and defensive coordinator in his career.

    At Auburn, Thompson coach with upcoming senior linebackers and returning starters Kris Frost and Casanova McKinzy, as well as top reserves Anthony Swain and Tre’ Williams.

    Thompson’s hire comes as a surprise, not because he left Alabama but because his name hadn’t been rumored as a possible replacement until Tuesday evening. At that point, it appears the details of his hire were being finalized. Prior to hiring Thompson, the only other name we heard as a serious candidate was former Miami linebackers coach Michael Barrow, though there is said to have been at least one other coach in the mix.

    It’s safe to say that during his search for a linebackers coach, Gus Malzahn kept things close to his… um… sweater vest.

    Next: Recruiting: Top 12 Uncommitted Targets and Odds They Sign

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