STARKVILLE — Mississippi State University Director of Athletics John Cohen announced Thursday the hiring of Tom Anagnost as the school’s new women’s soccer coach.
Anagnost (uh-Nag-Nist) comes to MSU from North Carolina State, where he spent the past season as an assistant coach, aiding in the Wolfpack’s march to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
“We are excited to welcome Tom to the Mississippi State family,” Cohen said. “He has shown the ability to turn around programs in a short period of time and has had tremendous success at each stop during his coaching career. He’s coming off a great run with NC State after a Sweet 16 appearance, and we are thrilled to name him as our new soccer head coach.”
Anagnost will be formally introduced at a news conference at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the Babe McCarthy Media Room in the Humphrey Coliseum.
“I am incredibly blessed and extremely grateful to be the head soccer coach at Mississippi State,” Anagnost said. “I want to especially thank John Cohen, Scott Wetherbee, and the rest of the search committee for this incredible opportunity. Mississippi State is a special place I truly believe in, and I just loved everyone I met.”
Anagnost is the program’s fifth coach. He has spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach, first with Michigan in 2015 before joining North Carolina State.
“I’m extremely excited and can’t wait to meet and build relationships with the players and entire support staff,” Anagnost said. “I’m looking forward to serving our student-athletes and increasing their commitment level to get better every day in everything they do and build a championship culture of excellence at this wonderful place.”
Prior to his assistant coaching jobs, Anagnost was the women’s soccer coach at Miami (Fla.) for two seasons from 2011-12. He led the Hurricanes to a 19-15-5 record and two NCAA tournament appearances, including the program’s first trip to the NCAA second round in 2011. The Hurricanes also qualified for the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament in 2012, while earning two wins against top-10 teams for the first time in school history.
Before his time in Coral Gables, Fla., Anagnost was coach at Central Michigan from 2009-10 after earning the job as an interim head coach in 2008 following his successful stint as an assistant with the club in 2007. He guided teams to a 45-12-7 record in his three seasons. The Chippewas earned two NCAA tournament appearances. Anagnost was named the Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year in 2008 and 2009. Anagnost’s clubs were 31-4-6 in league play.
Anagnost, a native of Saginaw, Michigan, also boasts eight years at the high school level in his home state of Michigan. He coached the Bay City John Glenn program (1999-02), Saginaw Heritage (2000-02), and Flint Powers Catholic (2003-07). He was named Saginaw Valley League Coach of the Year at Saginaw Heritage in 2002 after leading his club to the SVL title.
As a collegiate player, Anagnost was a three-time NCAA Division III All-American at Kalamazoo College (1992-95). He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in history in 1995, and went on to earn a teaching certificate from Saginaw Valley State in 2003. In 2006, he was inducted into the Kalamazoo College Sports Hall of Fame for his contributions over his successful four-year career with the Hornets.
Anagnost played professionally for the Chicago Power of the National Professional Soccer League in 1995 under famed United States and Greek National Team coach Alkis Panagoulias. He also played for the Michigan Bucks of the United States Indoor Soccer League in 1996.
Anagnost holds a National Coaching Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and the United States Soccer Federation.
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