STARKVILLE — Humble beginnings for James Armstrong have paved a road to Starkville.
Armstrong never imagined he would become a head coach in the Southeastern Conference when he worked as an equipment manager for the United States Soccer Federation. It didn’t take him long, though, to realize he wanted to get into coaching. After working for nine years and reaching the highest level of club soccer with the Lonestar Soccer Club, Armstrong moved on to become an assistant coach and an associate head coach at Auburn. That time has prepared Armstrong for his next step as head coach of the Mississippi State women’s soccer team.
“I have done it all, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the process, and I have embraced the process,” said Armstrong, whose hiring was announced last week and was officially introduced Wednesday at a news conference at the Bryan Building. “I thought this was the obvious next progression. Being able to go through all of the things I have gone through has allowed me to be ready for anything.”
Armstrong, who is from Yorkshire, England, also has served as assistant and head coach for the U.S. Olympic Development Program Region III team. He said his experience as an equipment manager from 2001-04 exposed him to the highest level of the sport and allowed him to see how some of the best coaches in the world worked. He said he expanded his knowledge working in numerous capacities and with different age groups with Lonestar Soccer Club. Armstrong credited Auburn coach Karen Hoppa for being a “mentor” and allowing him to be part of every aspect of the program. He said he is anxious to take what he has learned and push MSU forward.
“We’re going to go on the front foot,” Armstrong said. “We’re going to want to press when the other team has the ball. We’re going to want to win the ball high on the field. We’re going to want to counter quickly. In an ideal world, I would like to say maybe be a little more patient at times, but ideally we have to take a good look at what we have got. The blue-collar, the work ethic, competing, pride in the shirt — all of those things are non-negotiables for myself and for my staff.”
Armstrong takes over for Tom Anagnost, who led MSU to the program’s first appearance in the NCAA tournament in 2018. The Bulldogs won 18 games the last two seasons under Anagnost, who resigned in December to become head coach at Illinois-Chicago. Armstrong said he will try to build on the mentality he saw in MSU the last two seasons. He said he could tell the Bulldogs had a “competitive spirit” and were clearly fighting and pushing for one another.
“They were a team nobody wanted to play the last two years, particularly here in Starkville,” Armstrong said. “I was brought in here to continue that success. Something I am very passionate about is working to get better every single day. You’re either getting better or you’re losing ground, so what my staff and I are going to do is make sure we maintain those high standards and bring in our own ideas to how we can have even more success.”
MSU Director of Athletics John Cohen said Armstrong’s experience in so many areas, his familiarity with the Southeastern Conference, and the success he was a part of at Auburn were key factors in the decision to hire him.
“He has done everything,” Cohen said. “He has lined off the field. He has cleaned rest rooms. He has done everything. You love that part of his background.”
Auburn has advanced to the NCAA tournament the last five seasons. In 2015, Auburn reached the Sweet 16. In 2016, it advanced to the Elite Eight. Cohen feels MSU could be on a similar trajectory to Auburn. He feels Armstrong’s experience in helping establish the Tigers as a fixture in the NCAA tournament will help the Bulldogs reach that level.
“From everybody I talked to, he just connects instantly with young people,” Cohen said. “That is a big part of it, but you have to have that edge, that toughness, that insistence on excellence, and I think he has that part, too.”
Defender Miranda Carrasco, who was second in minutes this past season, is from Houston, Texas, so she asked some of her club coaches if they knew Armstrong from his days with Lonestar Soccer Club, which is based out of Austin, Texas. Carrasco said she received favorable reports and that she has been impressed with what she has heard and seen from Armstrong.
“I have heard nothing but positive things about him,” Carrasco said. “I have heard he is a great guy, a great coach, and a great person on top of all that. I am really excited to see how he turns this program around. It already has been turned around, but the many more accomplishments we’re going to make and the history we’re going to keep making.”
n Later Wednesday, MSU announced the hiring of Nick Zimmerman to finalize Armstrong’s coaching staff. He will join assistant coach Josh Rife and coordinator of soccer operations Geri Siudzinski, who were both members of Anagnost’s coaching staff.
Zimmerman comes to Starkville from Columbus State, where he served as an assistant coach since 2015. He has assisted Region II, United States Soccer National Training Center, and ID2 US Club Soccer. US Club Soccer’s id2 National Identification and Development Program provides an opportunity for the country’s elite youth soccer players to be identified and developed, and scouted for inclusion in U.S. Soccer’s National Team programs.
Zimmerman also has served on staff at elite camps at Virginia and Florida State. He was the Georgia Girls’ Olympic Development Program (ODP) 2000 Team’s head coach and is the director of U-4 Tots Program.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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