Football: "Oh Mickey, You're So Fine!" - Career Wins, Title Piling Up for Bulldogs' Head Man Thompson

By Jason S Rufner
Special to Viva Loudoun

Mickey Thompson
(photo by Steven Holland/Viva Loudoun)

Ashburn (Dec. 1, 2012) - If he hadn't been a football coach and educator, Mickey Thompson honestly doesn't know what he'd be doing.

"I have no idea," said Thompson after a thoughtful pause, emphasizing "no."

Fortunately for Stone Bridge fans, he doesn't have to know. He's got a gig, one at which he's been so successful that his record places him in his profession's upper pantheon.

Since his rookie season 22 years ago at Park View, the man affectionately referred to as "Mickey" but respectfully called "Coach Thompson" has amassed 213 coaching victories, averaging almost 10 wins per season at a level where seasons might last just 10 games. His career total rivals that of some of the longest tenured coaches in Virginia High School League (VHSL) history, and he's reached it faster than most.

Six times his teams have played in state championship games (two with Park View; four with Stone Bridge), winning the 2007 Group AAA title in a 38-0 blowout after a comeback upset of Phoebus in the semifinal. Thompson leads his Bulldogs into the state semifinals once again today with a 4 p.m. match-up at Hanover High School in Mechanicsville.

Nineteen times he's made the playoffs; 10 times he's been named Region Coach Of the Year. Since the Bulldogs were elevated to the Group AAA classification in 2005, Thompson's teams have owned both the Liberty District -- going 55-1 versus district foes while collecting every championship -- and the Division 5 half of the Northern Region, with six regional crowns in that span.


Stone Bridge has reached double-digit win totals every year since its second ever (2002). The program has done it by harnessing a stable of local talent which Thompson has molded for the next level: Dozens of Bulldogs have played collegiately, including eight signees from the 2012 edition. Stone Bridge products dot rosters throughout the Atlantic Coast Conference, around the mid-Atlantic region and on every level of college football. One current Bulldog is bound for Stanford (quarterback Ryan Burns), another for Alabama (defensive lineman Jonathan Allen).

Much of the youth football culture within the Bulldogs' footprint has become geared toward developing young student-athletes for Thompson's program.

"I honestly feel as if kids grow up watching the success of the program and have seen all the great players that have come out of Stone Bridge," said two-time all-state Bulldog Spenser Rositano, now with Boston College. "What this does is motivates the kids to work hard in their early years so one day they can get the opportunity to play for Coach Thompson and Stone Bridge."

Rositano's old teammate, Zach Thompson, echoes that sentiment.

"Early in my high school career I looked up to players from Stone Bridge who made it to the next level like Ylou Brown, Andrew Holoman and Andrew Nuss, and their success was my motivation," said the coach's son, now suiting up for Wake Forest alongside twin brother Patrick.


"Because of the weight room program and the on-field technique that you learn from coaching, the program creates the opportunity to play at the Division I level for players who buy in to the program and have natural talent."

Making a connection with players' parents is an intrinsic aspect of high school coaching. Jon Stancik's son Mike was a solid player under Thompson who played baseball, not football, in college. The elder Stancik observed how Thompson's character comes out in his team's play.

"He takes his job seriously and with passion. He expects the same from all of his players," Stancik said. "He has a vision and purpose for the team. All of this helps develop team chemistry and guides a team throughout the season."

Such a sparkling résumé in combination with such high laudations could be thought worthy of Hall Of Fame consideration by the VHSL. Certainly Thompson's bosses, Stone Bridge athletic director Dave Hembach and school principal James Person, think so.

"He helps student-athletes dream while doing all he can to guide them in setting realistic goals based on their achievements, potential, drive and heart," said Person, who in October submitted paperwork to nominate Thompson for the VHSL's Hall. "For him, football is the metaphor for everything that a family should be, including ongoing support and lifelong, genuine relationship."

Person called Thompson an "old-school coach" and an "incredible motivator" who takes an active role in his players' development as people, not just players. Hembach boasts that he's had just one football coach in his 18-year, two-school AD career.

"Coach Thompson is a player’s coach who has mastered the ability to walk the line between friendship and authority with his teams," said Hembach, the current Group AAA Athletic Administrator of the Year, in his letter of recommendation supporting Thompson's candidacy.

Over two decades of sustained success in an industry rife with inconsistency doesn't come from nowhere.

A local boy, Thompson graduated from Broad Run in 1977 before matriculating at the University of Virginia, where he played defensive tackle for the Cavaliers'. After UVA, Thompson began teaching and coaching at the high school level, returning to Loudoun to serve on the football staff at Park View High School in 1985. He was named the Patriots' head coach five years later.

Thompson's first Friday night as a head coach ended on the wrong side of a 40-0 shellacking which saw the Patriot quarterback sacked 11 times.

"That was a bad day," he recalled.

That bad day started a 10-year Park View stint which culminated in consecutive state championship game berths.

It was with Park View in the mid-1990s that Thompson, seeking to boost the Patriots' offensive production, turned to an oldie-but-goodie: The single-wing offense. It was immediately successful and so the players bought into it, Thompson said.

"Running the single-wing has been a difference-maker for us over the years," said Thompson about his now-famous offensive alignment, a misdirection-based relic from a bygone era which he's kept alive and well. "We always have something that we feel we can move the football with, and in high school there's nothing worse than feeling like you can never score points. Feeling like you can score gives you hope."

Thompson employs single-wing principles in order to create scoring chances week after week, year after year. He's seen several other programs follow the leader.

"Nobody was really running direct-snap offenses when we started. I like to think our success led to a lot of people starting their own variations."

When Stone Bridge High School opened for business in 2000, Hembach made the move from Park View's AD to the new school's equivalent. Thompson, whose home was then and is still in Ashburn, followed suit, bringing his offensive acumen and penchant for success with him.

It was an easy call for Hembach.

"He models excellent principles of teaching and is an innovator with his offense schemes which builds on the team's talent," said Hembach of Thompson.

Since then, the Stone Bridge Bulldogs have become one of the premier programs in all Virginia. In fact, VHSL-Reference.com has Stone Bridge ranked No. 3 in all of the state for top programs since 2000, behind only Phoebus (7 state titles in that stretch) and Gretna (5 state titles).

At this point, Thompson may feel his job options limited to what he's currently doing. That's fine with him. He's not planning on changing jobs for quite a while, at least not before he sees youngest son Joe --  a freshman and Bulldogs' JV quarterback who has seen action in varsity games this season -- through the system.

"All I know is I'm going to be here four, five, six more years," the potential Hall of Famer said.

Then he added, "As long as I don't get fired."

Learn more about the Thompson family football connection in this great article by Bulldog Tribune writer Jackie Howell: "Thompson Family Takes Football by Storm"