Gordon a go for MSU Soccer

Mississippi State has named Aaron Gordon the Bulldogs’ fourth head soccer coach in school history, director of athletics Scott Stricklin announced Tuesday.

The hiring is pending the approval of the Board of Trustees, Institutions of Higher Learning

Gordon, hailed by many in the soccer community as one of the top coaches in the nation, comes to Starkville following six seasons on the staff at Texas Tech University, including the past year as associate head coach.

“It’s exciting to come to Mississippi State and have a chance to be a part of this athletic department, to get a chance to build a program and compete in the SEC,” Gordon said. “It’s everything I’ve wanted as a coach, and this opportunity is very exciting.”

While at TTU, Gordon oversaw all facets of the program, including recruiting, scouting, team training and video match analysis.

In his six seasons on head coach Tom Stone’s staff, he helped develop Texas Tech into one of the upper-tier teams in the Big 12 Conference.

The 2012 season, his final at Texas Tech, was a record-setting one for the Red Raiders. The team won a school-record 16 games, advanced to the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament for the first time, and made its inaugural trip to the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the second round.

The 2012 Red Raiders tallied 130 points behind 46 goals and 38 assists, and defensively registered an 0.97 goals-against average while posting 10 shutouts.

Texas Tech’s 16-win campaign was the school’s third-straight double-digit win season, another first for the program.