When then-Penn State women's gymnastics coach Judi Avener was looking for an assistant in 1989, her search came down to two candidates.
The one she hired was Steve Shephard, who would become the Nittany Lions head coach in 1992 after Avener left to take the head coaching job at Florida. Shephard served as head coach for 18 seasons before resigning June 16.
The other finalist for that assistant coaching job was Jeff Thompson.
"She told me it was because I was too young, too handsome and too single to be the assistant coach," Thompson recalled with a smile.
Now Jeff Thompson has gotten another chance. He was hired on July 15 as the head coach of the Penn State women's gymnastics team. His wife Rachelle will act as associate head coach. They held the same positions at Auburn for 11 years before exchanging orange and blue for blue and white.
"The integrity and the tradition that Penn State stands for just blew us away," Rachelle Thompson said. "It's just amazing."
After the Penn State Athletic Department was granted permission to speak with the Thompsons for the then-vacant position, the husband-wife coaching duo arrived on campus July 13. They interviewed for about 90 minutes with Director of Athletics Tim Curley and spoke on the telephone with Penn State President Graham Spanier that night. They flew back home July 14 and took the job the next day.
Two of the main factors that led to the Thompsons visiting were the program's tradition and the recruiting potential.
"We feel like it's a crown jewel of the Northeast as far as recruiting for women's gymnastics," Jeff Thompson said. "Where we were at Auburn, you have Alabama and Georgia on either side of us. When kids look to the south they always look to those two programs first. When kids look to the Northeast, this is the best school to go to if you're a female gymnast."
Once in Happy Valley, the Thompsons said they fell in love with the campus. The Thompsons were also impressed with the knowledge Curley has of gymnastics.
"So many places that you go, the [athletic directors] don't know," Jeff Thompson said. "They know football, they know men's basketball, they know baseball but they don't understand the Olympic sports. And so that was the first thing that struck us. We walked out of [Curley's] office and were like 'Oh, my god.' "
The Thompsons hope to lead the Nittany Lions to the obvious goal of a national championship, something that has alluded Penn State since 1980. The Lions have only qualified for the 12-team NCAA Championship three times since 2000.
The first three years the Thompsons were at Auburn, the Tigers failed to reach regionals and attendance was measured in hundreds, Jeff Thompson said. However, the fourth year saw an increase in success, as Auburn upset Oklahoma in regionals and qualified for nationals.
The Tigers went on to qualify for regionals the final eight years the Thompsons were at Auburn, and earned No. 2 seeds at regionals two out of the past three seasons. At the same time, the Thompsons improved their attendance to an average of 5,500 in 2010. They said they hope to bring more fans to Rec Hall as well.
The Thompsons are inheriting a lot of talent from Shephard's regime, including the 2010 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Sharaya Musser. Musser was a four-time All-American last season. The Lions also return junior co-captain Whitney Bencsko, who was a two-time All-American her freshman season.
"The goal is always to win," Rachelle Thompson said. "We want to win. We want to start off winning, winning in all areas. That's the main goal and just to take Penn State to the next level. It's going to be a couple years building, but were going to do it."
