After sharing an office for eight years, Larsen and Thompson’s coaching partnership ends with the former taking the reins of a Tigers program he left longtime coaching veteran and Thompson associate Fred Fernandes for in 2017 when Thompson left Northridge for Ogden.

Larsen coached all eight of Ogden’s defenses during Thompson’s 38-51 tenure as head coach. In that time, Thompson promoted Larsen to the title of associate head coach coinciding with his ALS diagnosis in 2021.

“He’s been such a great mentor for me to see how things are done and how things are run behind the scenes,” Larsen said. “I was able to witness everything that we were doing and take note of it… He did an outstanding job building me up and getting me ready to take on this position.”

The future Larsen staff should reflect familiar personnel, including eight-year offensive coordinator Brogan Poll and assistant coach Ross Arnold (linebackers, running backs and expected special teams coach). Larsen said he’s still searching for lineman coaches.

Alongside Poll, Larsen was one of the first names Thompson introduced in 2017.

“The more coaches we can get in the building the better,” Larsen said. “You develop those relationships with the kids and they begin to trust you and your relationship grows and gets stronger. Going into the spring, I think it’ll pay massive dividends with a great group of kids coming up that are eager to compete and play.”

Despite competing against each other in numerous Roy-Northridge battles, Larsen first met Thompson in person through their mutual connection Fernandes. Larsen spent multiple years improving the weight room as Roy’s special teams coach before receiving Fernandes’ recommendation as Thompson’s assistant coach at Ogden.

“When I got the job at Ogden, I talked to Freddie about needing a right-hand man to come over here and help me – this was going to be a hard job,” Thompson said. “He was losing a good guy… (Fernandes) said he was ready to be that kind of right-hand man.”

Together, Larsen and Thompson snapped a three-season losing drought in 2017 and delivered a winning season a year later. Their final campaign this past fall included a 7-4 (2-3 Region 3A-North) finish and the Tigers’ first 5-0 start since 2009.

After his eighth season as head coach, Thompson officially stepped down from his post in November to focus on his ongoing battle with ALS. With a coaching search imminent, Thompson told the Standard-Examiner he wanted his input removed from the decision to ensure the school and its leadership were free from any bias.

“He’s laid a solid foundation,” Larsen said. “I’m going to do my best to build off that foundation and keep his legacy alive… Me, Brogan and Ross really wanted to bend over backward so that we could help him coach as long as he wanted to.”

Upon learning of Ogden’s hire, Thompson expressed his approval of the decision to go with Larsen as someone who doesn’t “carry a fixed mindset” and who he feels capable of carrying on his load as the team’s next head coach.

“You’ve gotta get the right person,” Thompson said. “Someone great with kids, someone who builds and someone who really loves football. And that’s certainly Terry. He’s been in the program for eight years. He knows all the difficult situations and he’s going to be able to hit the ground running.”

Larsen is currently completing a master’s degree in sports conditioning and performance with the intention of creating sport-focused weightlifting and nutrition courses at Ogden High. He currently leads a concurrent enrollment class through Weber State and Ogden High.

Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.