The Last Cowboy: Coach Eric Thompson

"Can't teach a fish to fly or an eagle to swim." Coach Eric Thompson

Good morning to the JWT Family. I appreciate everybody reading the articles. If you haven't been keeping up with my Morning Pep Talks, check those out. You might read something that makes your day or makes you laugh!

Today's story is about my good friend, Coach Eric Thompson. I met Eric a few years back when I was coaching a left handed point guard named Dom Johnson. Eric was coaching an AAU team, Dom ended up on that team, and we just hit it off right away.

Coaching is a fraternity that can be pretty tight knit, but it can also be petty. Sometimes coaches get jealous, or they get their feelings hurt, they never forget a certain time you beat them, etc. So as a coach, you're friendly towards most people, but finding other coaches that you actually trust is hard to do.

Eric Thompson, without a doubt, is one of the best friends I've ever made in coaching.

He's just an awesome guy. He's hilarious. That quote at the beginning is something he actually said. He's also famous for quotes such as, "Can't put toothpaste back in the tube" to describe situations that are irreversible. Another of my favorites, "Does a bear crap in the woods? A bear takes a crap wherever he wants to" when trying to get his team to impose their will.

How many real life people do you know that are genuinely quotable?

That's just Eric. He's so genuine. On top of all that, he's a really, really clever coach. I played for a coach, Ronnie Cookson, that won 13 state championships. I worked for Lennies McFerren, who won 9 state championships. I've been around some awesome coaches. Eric Thompson has some of the most brilliant, crazy, and 'that just might work' ideas that I've ever heard of.

When I asked him to do this article, his answer was simple: "I'm in." Here is what he had to say:

Coach Tom Waddell was a big influence on me. He preached "You can succeed if you are willing to do things right, and do them often, while keeping the goal in your vision."

He saw things in one of my players that I was missing. I didn't believe the end result would turn out how it did. He taught me to see the end product.

On advice he would give to others he said:

Become comfortable in your own skin. Focus on what moves you to move. Become competent in your area. Position yourself to be surrounded by the best people you can. Over-deliver for people over, with, and below you in position.

I could tell story after story about this guy. My absolute favorite story about him involves the time he was coaching at Fredricktown. Eric would drive his team down every summer to our camp. I would have all these teams lined up to play, and Eric would bring his kids down.

They spent the night in the gym. We literally camped out in the gym.

He had this kid on his team that year, and I don't remember his name, but Eric called him Farmer because the kid was such a country boy. The kid was a freshman. He wasn't very coordinated or strong or fast. He was just a really nice kid that tried as hard as he could. Eric was always working with this kid, always encouraging him.

About two years later, Eric brought his team back to camp. Farmer was with them. This kid had improved so much that it was unreal. He wasn't a superstar, but he had gone from being a 'might get cut from the JV team' player to a solid contributor on their varsity. It was just amazing to watch how much better this kid was.

I'm sure Eric's players could tell you a thousand stories just like that, or about the time he used a two man inbound scheme to break Sikeston's press (who does that?), or about the time he used a "plunger" defense (revolutionary stuff, seriously) to beat a team they had no business beating, or about the time his team got into a court clearing brawl out in Las Vegas while playing future NBA players from Texas (that was a crazy story).

Eric Thompson is just one of those people that was born to coach, born to spread that unique enthusiasm, and born to help kids. I'm glad to call him a friend.

So go out today and "focus on what moves you to move" just like Eric said. Everybody go help somebody else. #JWT