BVA grad Thompson successful as athlete and coach
Athletics has played a huge role in Earl Thompson’s life as a player and a coach. He used the lessons learned from athletics as an educator and a school administrator.
Thompson was a star tight end and linebacker at Belle Vernon Area High School in the early 1970s. He played for coach Dick Fields on Leopard 11s that posted records of 4-5 in 1972, 1-8 in 1973 and 4-5 in 1974.
“We were in a tough conference in the Big 10,” Thompson recalled. “Every week it was a tough game no matter who you were playing. We played Monessen, Charleroi, Brownsville, Clairton, South Allegheny and Laurel Highlands, so it was a week-in, week-out tough conference.”
As a tight end in 1973 Thompson was on the receiving end of two scoring strikes from Rich Zelenko covering 26 and 52 yards. He caught two touchdown passes covering 17 and 29 yards in 1974 from Jay Krepps. Thompson also played outstanding on defense at linebacker.
“I think I liked to play defense a little bit more,” Thompson offered. “I had to give the edge to the defensive side of the ball. We ran the winged T offense back then and there was a lot passes to the tight end and they did a bootleg pass and sometimes you are the primary receiver as a tight end. As far as statistics go those are erased from my memory. I just know that I enjoyed playing and I enjoyed being with my teammates.”
Thompson relished playing for his old mentor Fields.
“It was a real good relationship,” Thompson stated. “I ended up coaching with him when he was the head coach at Elizabeth Forward and an assistant at Yough and he was with me when I was the head coach at Yough for a few years. I learned a lot from him, he mentored me and I would consider him to be a mentor. I looked up to him, I looked up to him when I was a player and I certainly looked up to him when I was a new coach. He got me through some things as a coach and he really helped me out.”
Thompson was All Big 10 Conference as a junior and a senior and was an AP and UPI First Team All State selection his senior year. He was also nominated for the Big 33 All Star game.
“The honors were great,” Thompson said. “I played because I enjoyed the game, it was a good way for me to do something with other people and it was hard, but I enjoyed my teammates.”
Thompson ran track at Belle Vernon and also played basketball his sophomore and junior years. In 1972-73 he played sparingly and scored four points as the Leopards went 20-3 and 11-2 in Section 4 play. They lost in a section playoff with Rinngold 66-51. Ringgold captured the WPIAL title that season.
In 1973-74 Thompson scored 109 points on a Leopard squad that posted a 24-3 overall record and went 12-1 in Section 4. Belle Vernon defeated Ringgold in the WPIAL playoffs 54-50 in overtime. In the quarterfinals they beat Aliquippa 67-60 and were beaten by Farrell in the semifinals 69-45. The Leopards lost to Peabody in the PIAA playoffs 53-47.
“I played for an excellent coach in Don Asmonga,” Thompson stated. “The basketball team had some success and I was honored to be a part of that. We had some really good players. Those games you remember. I’d be the first to admit that I wasn’t the most skilled basketball player. I get my five fouls and then I’d go sit on the bench. I was a banger and a role player.”
Thompson chose not to play basketball his senior year.
When Thompson graduated from Belle Vernon in 1975 he sifted through some offers to play college football.
“There were a number of schools recruiting me,” Thompson said. “The final decision came down to Pitt and Penn State and I chose Penn State over Pitt and that was a hard decision. I like both schools and both coaching staffs, the decision to go to Penn State was not an easy one.”
At Penn State, Thompson was plagued by injury.
“My first fall I had a knee injury and I ended up having surgery and I was red-shirted,” Thompson lamented. “In spring practice of 1976 I got injured in the Blue-White game and surgery on my other knee and rehabbed over the summer. The surgeries were tough back then, they really cut you back then.
“Medically I was still able to play, that decision to quit football was tough. I went in and talked to Coach Paterno and told him I that I had enough and I walked away from it and worked for a year and enrolled at Pitt. I got my teaching certificate. When I graduated I did some substitute work and got hired in the Pittsburgh City schools, a part-time job that turned into a full-time job. I worked in the city schools for 15 years. I’m now in my 18th year with the Yough School District.”
While working in the city schools Thompson decided to get into coaching and started a long coaching career. He was an assistant coach under Dick Fields at Elizabeth Forward 1983-1987, 1989 with Bill Eglert at Thomas Jefferson, under Gary Dongilli at Yough 1990-1993 and with Dongilli at Belle Vernon in 1994. He was at Yough under Keith Reidmiller and Rich Bowen and also at Yough for four seasons under Jim Wehner until 2009. Thompson was head coach at Yough from 1996-1998.
“I enjoyed coaching,” Thompson stated. “It was therapy for me, it was a good way to be with kids in a different setting. Every place that I’ve been and every head coach that I’ve coached with I enjoyed the experience.”
Thompson served as assistant principal and athletic director at Yough and is currently the principal at Yough. He was inducted into the Belle Vernon Hall of Fame in 2002.
“I’m pleased and I’m blessed at how things turned,” Thompson said. “I’m especially blessed to be here in the Yough High School.”
Thompson, 59, resides in West Newton with his wife of 39 years Nancy, they have two grown children Ryan and Erin.
George Von Benko’s “Memory Lane” column appears in the Monday editions of the Herald-Standard. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.