[Bamabeachlivin]

At a Thursday news conference in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Saban also confirmed the hiring of Central Florida assistant Lance Thompson, who was demoted from defensive coordinator after the Golden Knights finished 4-8 this past season. Thompson was LSU's assistant head coach, recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach when Saban guided the Tigers to the 2003 BCS national title. Thompson also worked as an assistant at Georgia Tech and Alabama.




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Lance Thompson







Position:
Defensive Coordinator
Experience:
Third Year at UCF













Lance Thompson enters his third season as defensive coordinator at UCF. A year ago, Thompson's defense produced a pair of Conference USA All-Conference First Team selections in defensive end Paul Carrington and cornerback Joe Burnett.
Carrington tied for the conference lead in sacks with nine. He signed a free agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons following the season.
Thompson's secondary in 2005 was one of the youngest units in the nation, starting four freshmen for the majority of the season. The unit combined for 13 interceptions, including five from Burnett. Burnett was second in C-USA and 26th nationally in interceptions en route to earning Freshman All-America honors. He was the first Golden Knight in school history to earn first-team Freshman All-America honors by the Football Writers Association of America and CollegeFootballNews.com.
The Golden Knight defense in 2005 was also one of the most opportunistic units in the nation. UCF ranked 12th nationally and third in C-USA with a 0.92 turnover differential per game last season. In all, UCF's defense forced 32 turnovers in 2006.
Thompson developed one of the nation's youngest defenses in 2004, one that battled constant injuries, into a respectable unit by the end of the season.
UCF's defensive depth chart consisted for the most part of either freshmen or sophomores. The Golden Knights held their opposition to 21 points or less in three of the final four games of the season.
Before coming to Orlando, Thompson spent two seasons at LSU. Thompson served as the assistant head coach in charge of recruiting and the tight ends coach for the Tigers during their national championship season in 2003. Thompson began his tenure at LSU in 2002 as the defensive line coach.
In his first year with the Tigers, Thompson coached defensive tackle Chad Lavalais to first team All-Southeastern Conference honors as the Tigers' front four racked up 22 sacks.
Thompson is no stranger to working with George O'Leary as he coached for four seasons on O'Leary's staff at Georgia Tech. At Georgia Tech in 2001, Thompson coached a defensive line that recorded 21 sacks for the Yellow Jackets, including 10 by All-America defensive end Greg Gathers.
Thompson spent the 1999 and 2000 seasons coaching the defensive line at Alabama, where he helped the Crimson Tide to the SEC title in 1999.
Prior to his two-year stint at Alabama, Thompson was a part of the Georgia Tech staff for 11 years. During his 11 years with Georgia Tech, Thompson was defensive line coach in 1998, defensive ends coach in 1996 and 1997 and tight ends coach in 1995. Thompson served as the Georgia Tech's recruiting coordinator from 1995-98 and then again in 2001.
Prior to serving as an on-field coach for the Yellow Jackets, Thompson held the position of Director of Football Operations at Georgia Tech from 1992-94.
Thompson got his start in coaching in 1988, serving as a graduate assistant for two years at Georgia Tech, followed by two more years as a volunteer assistant in 1990 and 1991. Thompson coached the defensive ends, including former All-American and all-pro Marco Coleman. Georgia Tech won the national championship in 1990.
As a player, Thompson was a four-year letterwinner at The Citadel. He graduated from The Citadel in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in education/math.
A native of Riverdale, Ga., Thompson is married to the former Stacy Cambron of Henderson, Ky., and the couple has three daughters -- Allie, Christina and Lane. As of 6/15/06

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Cool, as a grad for UCF, I am glad to see the school getting a tiny bit of ink...even if its by way of Alabama...

[Stoney]

Good Hire.