Samuel Huston "Shy" Thompson Jr.[1][2] (November 1, 1875 – February 17, 1966)[3][4] was an American lawyer and college football coach.

Thompson served as assistant U.S. attorney general under President Woodrow Wilson from 1913 to 1918 and on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) from 1919 to 1927.

[2] Thompson was the seventh head football coach at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and he held that position for two seasons, from 1898 until 1899.

[6] In 1923, following the death of Colorado Senator Samuel D. Nicholson, former president Wilson lobbied governor William Ellery Sweet to appoint Thompson to the seat,[8] "only to meet with a cold turndown".

[9] In 1927, food safety advocate Harvey Washington Wiley advocated for Thompson to run for President of the United States, describing Thompson as "devoted solely to the public welfare" and asserting that he "would not use his power as president in any way to protect any vested interest against what was best for the public at large".