Thompson graduated in 1962 from Jefferson High School in Port Arthur, Texas and went on to play at Louisiana College.
As a young assistant coach at San Antonio Jefferson High School, he closely followed the exploits of the 1971 4A state champions Robert E. Lee High School, playing a pass-happy offense coached by John Ferrara, who in 1975 became an assistant at SMU.
In 1978 Thompson installed a very similar offense at Port Arthur Jefferson High School, led by quarterback-receiver duo Todd Dodge and Brent Duhon.
[1] Jefferson reached the 1980 state championship game but lost to Odessa Permian.
[2] A year after Dodge left for Texas, Thompson joined the Longhorns as backfield coach under Fred Akers.