Source: John Thompson no longer candidate for Ark. St. DC job

From a source close to the situation:

John Thompson has pulled out of consideriation for the Defensive Coordinator job at Arkansas State. In an email exchange, there were multiple factors but Coach Thompson did not want to move his children again [Thompson has two sons, 14 and 11].   He said he'd like to come back home to Arkansas [at some point] but his family had to come first.

My take and what this means for 2011: This is great news for Georgia State fans. We will likely retain our DC for 2011 and I said after the Alabama game that keeping our coaching staff together is vital for long term success. John Thompson is a very good DC and game planner.  With another offseason conditioning program, another recruiting cyle, getting NG Eduardo Curry back from injury and adding a very good pass rusher in DE Roderick Thompson, our defensive line will continue to get much better.  This helps our LBs get better and in turn makes our young DBs continue to get better.

Updated: DC John Thompson to Arkansas State?

12.7.10 Update - Spoke to a contact of mine in Jonesboro, Arkansas and he confirmed that there has been lengthy communication with Coach Thompson about joining Arkansas State. My source was led to believe it's a matter of budget and ability to pay him a salary that is acceptable and competitive. No confirmation from there side or ours but my contact communicated with several boosters who say there has been communication between both parties and there have been appeals made to raise enough money through donations to bring Thompson in.

The rumbling from The Den at ArkSt.com, an unofficial message board of Arkansas State football is discussing the possibility of our Defensive Coordinator and Asst. HC for scheduling and strategic planning as being named the new DC under new coach Hugh Freeze. 

Freeze knows Thompson very well and they served together at Ole Miss and this would be a very good hire for Arkansas State.  I have the utmost confidence that CBC would hire a more than capable replacement if JT does accept this position.

This is not a shock to anyone that has followed our program as Thompson was actually a finalist candidate for the LSU DC job last season.  This is the blessing and the curse of a brand new program, if you experience success, your coaching staff gets poached by much larger programs.