Chris Haught-Thompson enters his fifth season as head coach of the VMI women’s soccer program after being named to the position in February of 2019.

The name is familiar to program supporters as Haught-Thompson served as an assistant to former VMI head coach Chris Bergmann for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. He returned to VMI after serving for two seasons as the head coach of the women’s soccer program at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois.

During the 2021 season, he coached freshman Riley Flanagan to Southern Conference All-Freshman Team honors after she tallied eight goals, which tied for fourth most in the SoCon. She also logged five assists – tied for fifth in the league – for a total of 21 points, third most in the conference. Her 21 points on the year also rank fifth most for a single season in program history and her five assists are tied for third most in a single season. Her respective marks for points and goals also fall in the top 3 for freshman records at VMI.

At Knox College, Haught-Thompson led the Prairie Fire to a 27-11-5 record over two seasons, winning two MWC regular season and two tournament championships to earn berths to the 2017 and 2018 NCAA D-III Tournaments. Named the 2018 MWC Coach of the Year, he led two All-Region and seven All-Conference players including a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and 2018 Newcomer of the Year.

He was in charge of running all areas of the program including budget management, recruiting, scouting and training. Haught-Thompson also developed the camp system at Knox including a high school prospect camp and a youth summer camp.

As an assistant at VMI from January 2015 to February 2017, he helped the Keydets to a 14-25-2 record over the two seasons as he assisted Bergmann in all facets of practice, game and travel preparation. Haught-Thompson gained valuable experience with scholarship management and other administrative duties as well as recruiting, in-game evaluation, scouting opponents and designing off-season fitness regiments.

Prior to coaching his first stint at VMI he served as the assistant men’s soccer coach at Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, Illinois, for three seasons (2012-2014). He also served as an assistant on the women’s soccer team at Lake Forest during his third year at the school. On top of coaching at Lake Forest he served as a head coach for the Lincolnshire Lightning Soccer Club in nearby Lincolnshire.

He is USSF licensed.

Haught-Thompson earned a Master of Science in Sports Management from California University of Pennsylvania in 2015 and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Lake Forest College in 2012.