Brian Tompkins made a pretty good first impression on Ryan Raybould ‘05. As a high school soccer player in Kansas, the thought of attending Yale never occurred to Raybould. That changed the first time Tompkins called him.

“I knew that I wanted to play for him because I could tell right away that he believed in me,” Raybould said.

Raybould was just one of the hundreds of Yale soccer players that Tompkins helped mold into men. In his 19 years leading the Bulldogs, Tompkins served as a mentor and role model to each and every one of his players. On Saturday, he coached Yale for the final time after announcing in August that we would step down at the end of the 2014 season. Tompkins will remain with the Athletic Department as an administrator

“My four years at Yale were defined in a lot of ways by Coach Tompkins. He challenged me to be a better soccer player and man,” said Raybould ‘05, who went on to play three seasons with the Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer before playing professionally in Sweden.

Raybould is just one of many to be influenced by Tompkins.

“What was special about Coach Tompkins was that he cared about the development of his team as men,” said 2011 captain Chris Dennen ’12. “He understood that players had chosen to play at Yale for reasons other than just soccer. He genuinely tried to help and wanted to see his players succeed on and off the field. As a coach, his leadership ensured his teams would always represent Yale with pride. Players understood what an honor it was to play and represent Yale University, and as a result our teams always competed tenaciously. Coach Tompkins is a mentor, a leader, and a friend. I am a better man for having played for Brian Tompkins.”

Tompkins always had a beat on the pulse of this teams. Raybould remembers one moment that could have turned awkward. Lindsey Williams ’05 was known to do a pretty good impersonation of Tompkins. One time, the day before a big game, he started giving the team a motivational speech just like his coach would.

“With his knees buckled inward slightly, he leaned into the board, and gave us a rousing pre game speech in his best version of a British accent,” Raybould remembers. “Of course, the entire speech by Lindsey was replete with Coach Tisms: `this guy is a rah-rah type of player,’ `they don't even want to know about defending,’ ‘he likes to lay in the weeds’ ‘this player is a barrel chested.’ About halfway through Coach T came in. We all saw him, but Lindsey had no idea.  Coach T let Lindsey finish and you could tell he was loving every minute of it.  When Lindsey finished he looked up and saw Coach T.  His face went blank. Coach T, without missing a beat, said to Lindsey, `Looks like you covered it all.’”

During his tenure, Tompkins guided the Bulldogs to a share of the 2005 Ivy League title and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. He finished with 138 wins, five shy of Steve Griggs, who has the most victories in Yale history.

Tompkins’ 1999 team enjoyed one of the most memorable seasons in school history. The Bulldogs won a school-record 13 games, upset Rutgers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and had a final national ranking of 18th. In 2005, Tompkins guided Yale to its first Ivy League title since 1991. The Bulldogs finished with a 10-4-4 overall record, were 5-1-1 in Ivy play and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in school history.

Eight of Tompkins’ players at Yale went on to play professionally, including Raybould and Brian Roberts ‘04 who also spent three years playing for the Wizards and became the first Yale player to start an MLS game when he played 79 minutes against Real Salt Lake in July of 2005.

In addition, Jac Gould ‘00 earned Ivy League Player of the Year honors under Tompkins’ tutelage in 1998, and Jay Alberts ‘04 was named the league’s Rookie of the Year in 1999.

Since 2008, Tompkins also has served as a coach with the Olympic Development Program. Presently, he is the head coach of the Region 1 Under-15 ODP age group. In December of 2013, he guided the team to the U15 ODP Interregional Tournament title.

Tompkins also has had a hand at the professional level, coaching at the adidas MLS Player Combine.

Despite all of his success, Tompkins has always been most proud of the way his young men have represented Yale on and off the field.

“I’m honored and grateful to have had the opportunity to lead this great program,” he said on Saturday shortly after his team fell to Princeton 1-0.

Current assistant coach Hiro Suzuki ‘00 has had the unique experience of both playing for Tompkins and working with him. Suzuki was the captain of the 1999 team and has been by Tompkins’ side on the bench for each of the last four years.

“My four years as a Yale soccer player coincided with Coach Tompkins’ first four years as head coach, and I look back on those times fondly as a time in which I learned valuable life lessons, developed lasting friendships and built the soccer program back up to national prominence,” Suzuki said. “As an alum thereafter, there have been countless times when I would call upon my soccer experiences to provide me the belief that I could get through challenging situations or trying periods of my life. Values such as perseverance, integrity, respect, compassion and optimism – those are the core values that Coach Tompkins helped instill in me and all Yale soccer players in the last 19 seasons

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