Herbert B. "Bus" Thompson (1912 – August 29, 2001) was an American football, basketball, track coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee from 1950 to 1955. Thompson was also the Fisk's head basketball coach from 1950 to 1970, head track coach from 1956 to 1960, and athletic director from 1954 to 1977.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1912 Gary, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | August 29, 2001 (aged 89) Opelika, Alabama, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1935–1936 | Bluefield State |
| 1937 | New York Brown Bombers |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| c. 1940 | Morristown |
| 1950–1955 | Fisk |
| Basketball | |
| c. 1940 | Morristown |
| 1945–1950 | Morris Brown |
| 1950–1970 | Fisk |
| Baseball | |
| c. 1940 | Morristown |
| Track | |
| 1956–1960 | Fisk |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| c. 1940 | Morristown |
| 1954–1977 | Fisk |
Born in Gary, West Virginia, Thompson played college football at Bluefield State College in Bluefield, West Virginia, earning black All-American honors in 1935 and 1936 and leading the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association—now known as the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA)—in scoring in 1935. He earned the nickname "Bus" because of his powerful running ability as a fullback. Thompson was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated and was indicted into the Alpha Tau Chapter of Bluefield State College in 1936. As a highly respected leader, Bus Thompson attracted many coaches to serve on the coaching staff who were also members of Kappa Alpha Psi.
Thompson played professionally with the New York Brown Bombers in 1937. Thompson began his coaching career as athletic director and head coach of football, basketball, and baseball at Morristown College in Morristown, Tennessee. He was the head basketball coach at Morris Brown College in Atlanta from 1945 to 1950.[1][2]
Thompson died of pneumonia, on August 29, 2001, at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika, Alabama. He was survived by his daughter, Marguerite Thompson, his son, Charles Thompson and his grandchildren, Maya Browne, Charles Thompson Jr. And Kelly Thompson.[3]
Head coaching record edit
College football edit
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fisk Bulldogs (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1950–1955) | |||||||||
| 1950 | Fisk | 5–2 | |||||||
| 1951 | Fisk | 6–2 | 5–2 | 4th | |||||
| 1952 | Fisk | 6–3 | |||||||
| 1953 | Fisk | 3–5 | |||||||
| 1954 | Fisk | 4–4 | |||||||
| 1955 | Fisk | 2–8 | 1–5 | T–14th | |||||
| Fisk: | 26–24 | ||||||||
| Total: | 26–24 | ||||||||
References edit
- ^ "H. B. Thompson Named Head Grid Coach At Fisk". Alabama Tribune. Montgomery, Alabama. September 1, 1950. p. 7. Retrieved December 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com
.
- ^ Huggins, Harold (February 6, 1990). "'Bus' Thompson hails ride into state's Hall of Fame". The Tennessean. Nashville, Tennessee. p. 9. Retrieved December 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com .
- ^ Wadhwani, Anita (September 3, 2001). "Former Fisk coach Herbert 'Bus' Thompson, 89, dies". The Tennessean. Nashville, Tennessee. p. 19. Retrieved December 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com .
