Kevin Dempsey accepts assistant coaching position at LSU
7/20/2010 2:31:00 PM | Women's Soccer
From: LSU Sports Information
BATON ROUGE - The LSU women's soccer team and head coach Brian Lee announced the hiring of former College of Charleston head coach Kevin Dempsey on Monday to complete the Tigers' coaching staff for the 2010 season.
Dempsey takes over the vacant assistant coaching position left open with the departure of Daniel Brizard, who was appointed the new head coach of the women's program at Tennessee Tech University in June.
Dempsey joins the LSU program following a nine-year stint as the head coach at the College of Charleston, where he led the Cougars to a 99-78-22 overall record and a 54-32-8 mark in Southern Conference play since 2001. That includes an overall record of 24-12-6 in the last two seasons.
He will team with Lee and associate head coach Debbie Hensley to form the core of a coaching staff with a combined 31 years of head coaching experience at the NCAA Division I level.
"I'm really appreciative to Brian for the opportunity to join the staff at LSU. He and Debbie have done an amazing job of transforming LSU into one of the elite programs in the country, and I just want to come in and help them continue in that tradition and win a SEC championship," Dempsey said. "I can't wait to get to Baton Rouge and start working toward that goal with such an outstanding program.
"We had a fantastic nine years at CofC. It's never easy to leave a place that you love. We appreciate all of the support we've received over the years, from our fans and players to our staff and administration. The program is in a much better position today than when we arrived nine years ago. I'm very proud of that."
The Cougars flourished in nine seasons earning runner-up finishes in the SoCon Tournament in 2002 and 2009. Charleston earned 28 All-SoCon and All-SoCon Tournament selections under Dempsey.
The Cougars were also outstanding in the classroom during Dempsey's tenure while winning the NSCAA Team Academic Award in each of his nine seasons while posting a team GPA of 3.0 or higher.
"We are excited to add a coach with the quality and experience Kevin brings with him to LSU," Lee said. "I am certain he will have a positive impact on our team and this community. I approach the staff just like the team with a goal to go out and recruit the best. I think this is a home run hire for our program.
"With Kevin joining Debbie (Hensley) and the rest of our staff, we've assembled a staff that will continue to recruit and develop some of the best players and people in all of college soccer."
Dempsey boasts 16 years of head coaching experience at the collegiate level, serving as head coach of the women's program at Catawba for seven seasons from 1993-99 while compiling an overall record of 80-45-7, including a 47-13-3 mark in the South Atlantic Conference.
After guiding the Indians to the South Atlantic Conference regular season championship in 1993, the team captured five SAC Tournament titles in seven seasons in 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998 and 1999. Dempsey led Catawba to the NCAA Division II Southeast Region Championship in 1997 before earning a spot in the national quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Tournament that same year.
In all, Dempsey coached 10 NCAA Division II All-Americans, 17 All-South Region selections, four SAC Players of the Year and four SAC Freshmen of the Year during his seven-year tenure at Catawba.
In addition to his experience as a head coach at the collegiate level, Dempsey also served as head coach of the Under-15 Region III Olympic Development Program Team for seven years from 2003-09.
