Karen Hoppa believes James Armstrong is ready.
That confidence stems from Hoppa getting to know him when they worked on the United States’ Under-19 Women’s National Team at the inaugural FIFA U-19 World Cup in 2002. At the time, Hoppa was an assistant coach and Armstrong was an equipment manager for the U.S. Soccer Federation.
Years later, that month-long experience provided Hoppa a familiarity with Armstrong when she was hiring as assistant coach to join her with the Auburn women’s soccer program.
After working with Armstrong for six years, Hoppa knows he is the right man to take over the Mississippi State women’s soccer program.
“I think he is a great fit for Mississippi State,” Hoppa said. “I think he will be able to pick up where the program is and carry it forward. I think he will keep up the work rate and I would envision him adding in even more of the soccer. I think exciting times are ahead for Mississippi State soccer.”
Armstrong, whose hiring was announced last week, was officially introduced Wednesday at a news conference at the Bryan Building. He comes to Starkville after working as an equipment manager with the U.S. Soccer Federation from 2001-04. He then worked in a variety of roles with the Lonestar Soccer Club from 2004-13, ultimately rising to the director of coaching. From there, Armstrong worked as assistant coach of the Region III Olympic Development Program team from 2011-15 and then became the head coach, which is a position he currently holds.
At MSU, he takes over the program from Tom Anagnost, who led the Bulldogs to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 2018. Anagnost led MSU to 18 wins in two seasons before resigning in December to take a job at Illinois-Chicago.
Anagnost’s departure created an opening Hoppa feels is perfect for Armstrong.
“He has played such a major role here at Auburn,” Hoppa said. “He helped me with every facet of the program and making decisions.”
Hoppa said Armstrong has an ability to see “the big picture” and to relate to everyone in and associated with a program. She feels he understands what it takes to run a program and how to manage the tactical and technical aspects of a soccer team.
Hoppa feels Armstrong’s time working up through the U-8 ranks to becoming Lonestar Soccer Club’s Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) head coach and Premier League Girls Director of Coaching will serve him well as he tries to continue the momentum in Starkville.
Hoppa said she knew Armstrong had the character and the coaching acumen when she was looking for an assistant coach. Armstrong served as her assistant from 2013-17 and her associate head coach from 2017-18.
Hoppa said the variety of roles Armstrong has served in will help him at MSU.
“I couldn’t find anyone who had anything bad to say about him,” Hoppa said in recalling what she knew about Armstrong when she hired him. “When you’re a club coach that is pretty hard to do. Everybody I talked to, everybody had nothing but good things to say about him.
“I think (that experience) is going to serve him well. I didn’t make a decision without talking to him, so he knows that process. Even moreso what will help him is his experience at Auburn, the six years on the field, every year was drastically different, so he has had a wide variety of experiences throughout a college season. … We faced different challenges. That variety of experience help him at Mississippi State.”
Armstrong is Hoppa’s latest assistant / associate head coach to become a head coach. Matthew Mott, who is the head coach at Ole Miss, worked with Hoppa at Central Florida and Auburn. Hoppa also has had assistant coaches go on to become head coaches at Tennessee Tech and The Citadel. She said MSU’s decision to hire Armstrong means she will have to be impartial when Ole Miss and MSU face each other in soccer. Despite not rooting for the Bulldogs, Hoppa is confident Armstrong will do well.
“He has done a little bit of everything in his time at Auburn,” Hoppa said. “He served as my recruiting coordinator. He did a lot of the training on the field. His focus for me was more offensive, but he is great on either side of the ball.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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