­­Michael Thomas was named head coach of the South Dakota women’s soccer program in December of 2017 and enters his sixth season at the helm in 2023.

In the 2022 season, Thomas led defender Taylor Ravelo to her third consecutive appearance on the Summit League awards list with an honorable mention. Senior Joana Zanin ranked in the top-10 in the conference with five goals on the season while senior Taylor Cotter finished fourth in the Summit with five assists on the year. During the season, Thomas guided USD to three shutouts on the year including shutouts over Iowa State and South Dakota State. Thomas earned his 40th victory as head coach of the Coyotes with a 2-1 win over Oral Roberts on the final home game of the regular season. 

The 2021 season was the best season to date for the Coyotes under Thomas. They finished with a 10-4-4 record which was the most wins in the Division I era. Thomas led USD to an 8-1 record at home including a big 1-0 win over Iowa State for their first ever win over a Power 5 program. South Dakota outscored its opponents 20-4 at First Bank & Trust Soccer Complex in 2021. The Coyotes then went on to compile five wins in conference play which tied them for the most in a season since joining the Summit League.  USD outscored their conference opponents 16-8 and qualified for the Summit League Tournament fort he second consecutive year and the third time in program history. They finished second in the conference with 10 shutouts on the year.

Thomas coached five all-Summit honorees in 2021. Alexis Mitchell earned first-team honors and all-league recognition for the third consecutive year while Jordan Centineo, Abby Ostrem, Taylor Ravelo, and Emma Harkleroad all appeared on the second team. Mitchell (2nd team) and Ravelo (3rd team) also were selected to the United Soccer Coaches All-West Region team. Harkleroad had one of the best seasons in net for USD. She finished with a 9-2-4 record and led the nation in save percentage (88.9 percent).

Thomas had three Coyotes appear on the Academic All-Summit team in Harkleroad, Mitchell, and Ostrem. Harkleroad and Ostrem were also named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team before Harkleroad went on to be named a CoSIDA Academic All-American. It was the first time in program history the Coyotes had a first-team Academic All-American.

In the 2020 season, the Summit League pushed the fall seasons to the spring of 2021 amid the COVID-19 Pandemic. With a conference only schedule, Thomas led the Yotes to a 9-7-1 record and clinched a birth in the Summit League Tournament for just the second time since joining the Summit League. The Yotes set several team and individual records over the course of the unusual season including longest win streak in the Division I era at six games. USD recorded 2.1 goals per game which led the Summit League and recorded 35 goals on the season which finished 15th in the nation.

Defensively, USD outscored its opponents 35-19 on the season and recorded six shutouts on the season including four straight shutouts against the North Dakota schools to end the regular season. The Coyotes only allowed two goals in their last six regular season games. Emma Harkleroad recorded a 0.97 goals against average which puts her first in program history in a single season. 

Individually, Thomas coached four players to All-Summit League honors in Alexis Mitchell (1st), Harkleroad (2nd), Taylor Cotter (2nd) and Taylor Ravelo (2nd). Mitchell was also named a Summit League Offensive Player of the Week (April 12) and named to the United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-West Region team. Harkleroad also earned Summit League Defensive Player of the Week (April 5). Cotter not only moved up in the Coyote record books but also finished 13th in the nation last season with eight assists on the season. She now is tied for second all-time in a season at USD with those eight assists. Ravelo also recieved Summit League all-Newcomer Team honors.

In the 2019 season, Thomas coached Alexis Mitchell to second-team all-Summit League and third-team all-West Region honors, the second straight Coyote to earn the award. Mitchell also earned Summit League Offensive Player of the Week honors (Sept. 23) and was named Summit League Player to Watch.

Thomas also coached Kellee Willer to first-team all-Summit League honors, the second straight Coyote to earn the honor. Abby Ostrem earned second-team all-Summit League while freshman Lexie Wood was named to the all-Freshman Team.

The Coyotes earned a triage of academic awards during the 2019 season. As a team, the Yotes were announced as a winner of a Team Academic Award handed out by the United Soccer Coaches. The award is bestowed upon teams that had a composite grade point average of 3.0 or better for all players on the roster during the 2018-19 academic year.

Individually, South Dakota had Mitchell and Willer named to the USCA Scholar all-West Region team. Willer also earned CoSIDA Academic All-District 6 honors, the second straight year she has earned the honor. Mitchell, Ostrem and Willer were all named to the Academic All-Summit League Team. Willer also become the first Coyote to be named to the team in three consecutive seasons.

In his first season at USD, Thomas guided the Coyotes to their best season in the Division I era with nine wins and breaking several records including the highest shooting percentage, fewest goals allowed and lowest opponent shooting percentage.

He coached Taryn LaBree to first-team all-Summit League and third-team all-West Region honors, the first Coyote to garner either accolade. Along with the postseason awards, Kellee Willer was named second-team all-Summit League and Teresa Fontenot was a member of the all-Freshman Team.

Prior to coming to South Dakota, Thomas tallied six years of head coaching experience at the Division I level and another 12 years as an assistant coach, with four seasons as the associate head coach at Cal State Fullerton.

While at Cal State Fullerton, Thomas helped the Titans to a 46-27-11 record with three NCAA tournament appearances, three Big West Conference Tournament Championships and two regular season titles. Thomas tutored a First Team All-American, six all-region honorees, two Big West Offensive Players of the Year, two Big West Goalkeepers of the Year, a Big West Midfielder of the Year and Big West Defender of the Year.

As a head coach at the University of Buffalo from 2008-2014, Thomas guided the Bulls to the Mid-American Conference semifinals for the first time in 10 seasons during the 2011 season.

Thomas guided UB to a 12-5-4 record in 2011, marking the most improved team in the country and an RPI jump of nearly 200 places. Buffalo ranked fifth in the nation with an 89.6 save percentage and 15th in the nation with a 57.1 percent shutout percentage.

In his six season in Buffalo, Thomas coached 12 Mid-American all-conference, all-tournament and all-academic honorees. Off the pitch, his squad held the highest GPA in the UB athletic department on three different occasions.

Prior to his time at Buffalo, Thomas helped lead Denver to four NCAA Tournament appearances in six seasons as an assistant coach. The Pioneers won the Sun Belt regular season championship three times and helped coach the team to a 90-25-12 record over the six seasons.

Thomas also has assistant coaching stops at Memphis and Wisconsin – Green Bay.

He has experience coaching in the Olympic Development Program as a region staff coach and a state coach in four different states along with club coaching experience in California, Colorado, Minnesota and Tennessee. He also competed as a professional for the Boulder Nova/Rapids Reserve and Myrtle Beach Sea Dawgs of the United Soccer League.

Thomas is a 1998 graduate of Fort Lewis College where he was a member of the men’s soccer team and graduated with honors receiving his bachelor of arts in history. He received his master of arts in human communication from Denver in 2005.

Thomas and his wife Shannon reside in Vermillion. 

Thomas Accomplishments:

Taylor Ravelo Summit League Honorable Mention (2023)

Alexis Mitchell First Team All-Summit (2022)

Jordan Centineo, Abby Ostrem, Taylor Ravelo, Emma Harkleroad Second Team All-Summit (2022)

Alexis Mitchell Second Team United Soccer Coaches All-West Region (2022)

Taylor Ravelo Third Team United Soccer Coaches All-West Region (2022)

Emma Harkleroad led the nation with an 88.9 save percentage (2022)

Emma Harkleroad, Alexis Mitchell, Abby Ostrem Academic All-Summit (2022)

Alexis Mitchell First Team All-Summit (2020-21)

Emma Harkleroad, Taylor Cotter, Taylor Ravelo Second Team All-Summit (2020-21)

Taylor Ravelo Summit League All-Newcomer Team (2020-21)

Kellee Willer First Team All-Summit (2019)

Alexis Mitchell, Abby Ostrem Second Team All-Summit (2019)

Lexie Wood Summit League All-Freshman Team (2019)

Alexis Mitchell Third Team All-West Region (2019)

Alexis Mitchell and Kellee Willer USCA Scholar All-West Region Team (2019)

Kellee Willer CoSIDA Academic All-District VI (2019)

Alexis Mitchell, Abby Ostrem, Kellee Willer Academic All-Summit (2019)

Taryn LaBree First Team All-Summit (2018) 

Kelle Willer Second Team All-Summit (2018)

Teresa Fontenot Summit League All-Freshman Team (2018)

Taryn LaBree Third Team USCA All-West Region Team (2018)

Year

Team

Win

Loss

Tie

Win %

2018

South Dakota

9

7

2

.556

2019

South Dakota

8

9

2

.474

2020

South Dakota

9

7

1

.559

2021

South Dakota

10

4

4

.667

2022

South Dakota

4

9

5

.361

Total

40

36

14

.522