Knights’ coach Thompson still living his dream after 100th career victory

By T.J. Holmes of the Redding Record Searchlight

Shasta College head football coach Craig Thompson was all smiles when he walked across the field at Memorial Stadium Saturday night following a 69-0 win over Mendocino.

Sure, it was a blowout win and Thompson couldn't wait to congratulate his team for their dominating performance to stay undefeated on the year.

But the excitement arising from his players for Thompson earning his 100th victory of his coaching career was close to that of children eagerly waiting for their father to open up a present on Christmas morning.

"He's an amazing leader; I've never had anyone like him lead a team the way he does," Shasta College quarterback Tim Naylor said. "He doesn't only worry about football, he wants us to be good men and it means the world to all of us to give him that win."

Had the Knights' assistant coaches not mentioned to Thompson that he was approaching a milestone a week ago, he would have never known. In the age of stat-tracking and exhaustive reading of analytics, Thompson still provides a more impactful bigger picture approach.

"He's not the type of person that's always aware of stuff like that," Shasta College offensive coordinator Bryon Hamilton said. "I'm sure he cares about it because it represents a lot of great memories and great years. He's cherished all those teams and wins because it's about relationships with him and not numbers on a plaque."

Hamilton, in his 10th season coaching with Thompson, was the one to present Thompson with the game ball in the team huddle following the most lopsided victory of his tenure. It was fitting that Thompson achieved the mark against Mendocino, the same team he beat in his first game as the Knights head coach in 1996.

The journey has carried mixed results for Thompson, now in his 21st season since taking over the program on an interim basis 12 days before that first victory on Sept. 14, 1996.

He's experienced everything from a struggling one-win season to a pair of division championship runs, a trio of conference titles and seven bowl game appearances. Players have moved on to suit up and earn degrees at four-year universities and return to coach alongside him.

It's a sign of how his ideology of creating a family atmosphere has shaped lives beyond football.

"It's tough for junior college because people don't have loyalties like they do in high school. They're here to move on," Hamilton said. "Some are disappointed when they arrive because they didn't go D-I so they have various attitudes and circumstances that can make it hard to have a family atmosphere where people generally care about each other and the school and the community.

"I think that's one of the best gifts I've seen him bring here."

Establishing that sense of closeness stems from Thompson's North State roots. An Enterprise High grad, Thompson played for Shasta College in 1983-84 and Humboldt State before returning as an assistant coach under Leon Donohue in 1991. When health reasons forced Donohue to step down in 1996, Thompson gladly took the reins.

Record Searchlight articles at the time suggested Shasta College keep Thompson on full-time to build a program, avoid turnover and put a team together the community can rally around.

With the Knights pursuing their first unbeaten season in program history at 6-0 and atop the Northern American Division, Thompson is still fulfilling those expectations today.

"When I played in '83, I made it a personal goal for myself that one day I'll come back and be a part of Shasta College football staff and hope to be the head coach," Thompson said.

"I'm living my dream."

CRAIG THOMPSON

BY THE NUMBERS

3 - Conference titles for the Knights under Shasta College head coach Craig Thompson. Shasta won the Bay Valley Conference title in 2008, was a co-conference champ in 2013, and won the Pacific 7 League title in 2015.

7 - Bowl game appearances for Shasta with Thompson as the head coach. The Knights are 2-5 in those games and have twice claimed division championships.

9 - Seasons with Thompson leading the way where the Knights finished with a .500 record or better, including this year where they have already locked up a winning season.

21 - Years Thompson has been at the helm of the Shasta College football program, which is most in program history. He started as an assistant in 1991 and became the head coach in 1996.

69 - Point differential in Saturday's win over Mendocino (69-0) for Thompson's 100th win. It was the most lopsided victory during his tenure and second all-time in program history.