Ole Miss has tabbed Melissa Terry of the University of Oklahoma to join the Rebel soccer staff as an assistant coach, head coach Matthew Mott announced on Wednesday.
An All-America selection as a collegiate player, Terry comes to Ole Miss with a wealth of experience working in collegiate athletics and brings a variety of knowledge on different aspects of collegiate soccer after working with successful women’s soccer programs, including a pair of College Cup appearances at Florida State and a four-year playing career at Central Oklahoma.
“We are thrilled to add Melissa Terry to the Ole Miss soccer family,” Mott said. “She brings a wealth of experience with her when it comes to preparing and training athletes to compete at the highest level. She really separated herself from the pack in our coaching search with her energy level, her knowledge of the sport and athletic training and her passion for soccer.”
“I’m so thankful to Matt Mott, Lynnette Johnson and Ross Bjork for opening the door to bring me into the Ole Miss family,” Terry said. “I’ve worked with such a diverse group of coaches over the year that have brought such a varied set of influences when it comes to coaching, and I have a unique experience when it comes to analyzing the sport and breaking down the game of soccer. I’m excited about getting out there and recruiting because I have a different way of looking at the game. I first see the athlete and the technique because of my background that I believe provides me an advantage when evaluating a potential recruit.
“Coach Mott has done a great job of bringing so many pieces together to build the program and I’m hoping to bring in some more pieces to fill in the gaps and provide some more support and perspective to things as we continue to build at Ole Miss,” Terry said.
Terry joins the Rebels’ coaching staff after serving the previous three seasons working in strength and conditioning at the University of Oklahoma and serving as a color analyst for the Sooner Sports Network for soccer games broadcast by Fox Sports TV.
At Oklahoma, Terry helped develop a softball program that claimed the 2013 Women’s College World Series crown to bring the Sooners a second NCAA Championship, along with working with the rowing team that has claimed a pair of Big 12 Championships and NCAA Tournament berths in six seasons of competition. She also trained the 2012 NCAA Women’s Golf Champion in and a team that finished fourth in the NCAA Tournament in 2014.
Prior to her time at Oklahoma, Terry spent three seasons working with the women’s soccer program at Florida State as the Seminoles advanced to the Women’s College Cup in 2011 and 2012 as one of the final four teams standing in the NCAA Tournament both seasons. The 2010 team advanced to the Elite Eight in her first season with the Seminoles.
She also trained the women’s swimming and diving team in those three seasons.
In the two years prior to her stint at Florida State, Terry completed an internship at Oklahoma through the spring and fall of 2009. In that year, she worked with women’s basketball (Final Four), baseball (NCAA Regional) and wrestling (fifth-place finish at NCAA Tournament) while also developing strength and conditioning programs for the men’s gymnastics team (third-place finish at the NCAA Tournament) and the women’s golf team.
Terry spent the spring of 2008 through 2009 working as an intern with Baylor as a graduate assistant with the women’s soccer program and in the Athletic Performance department where she worked with training multiple teams for the Bears.
She graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma in 2007 after a four-year playing career that saw Terry earn All-America honors in the 2006 season after helping lead the Bronchos to a second-straight Lone Star Conference regular-season and tournament championship. Terry was named the Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Year and Student-Athlete of the Year that season, as well as earning LSC Tournament MVP honors.
She also earned LSC Student-Athlete of the Year honors in 2007 and was twice named an All-Region selection by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in 2004 and 2005.
–Ole Miss Sports Information
Melissa Terry Joins Rebels' Coaching Staff
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