President Lu Hardin said last week former Athletic Director John Thompson’s departure to the University of Mississippi should be viewed as a positive for the university, despite Thompson’s short tenure at UCA.

“Thompson brought name recognition, nationwide creditability, an extrodinary work ethic and a history with UCA personnel to the job,” Hardin said. “So from that standpoint the hiring of John Thompson was a perfect hire.”

Thompson was hired as UCA’s athletic director in May 2006 as the university prepared to make the move to Division I. He held the job for eight months before accepting the defensive coordinator position at the University of Mississippi under head coach Ed Orgeron.

“I am very thankful to UCA and to Ole Miss for this opportunity,” Thompson said in a press release. “I’ve enjoyed this job very much and I’m excited about joining coach Orgeron at Ole Miss.”

Hardin said, while he was disappointed Thompson decided to leave UCA, he understood his decision.

“I’m disappointed, but I don’t hold any animosity whatsoever,” Hardin said. “In fact, I’m very happy for Thompson. It was an exceptional circumstance – a million dollars over three years. That’s hard to pass up.”

Hardin also didn’t think the recent soccer situation had anything to do with Thompson’s departure.

“[Thompson] felt very comfortable with the resolution of the soccer situation,” Hardin said. “He sent several certified letters to different conferences trying to get into the conference.”