Longtime Tecumseh football coach Tuffy Thompson dies at 72

Thompson held the defensive coordinator position for all those seasons and helped build and maintain a program that is one of the area’s best. The Arrows made nine playoff appearances during Thompson’s tenure.

“Tecumseh football would not be where it is today without Tuffy Thompson,” Massie said.

Thompson earned the nickname “Tuffy” when he was 4, his son Kurt Thompson said. Thompson was a 1961 Troy High School graduate who played for Lou Juillerat.

“(Juillerat) really shaped my dad into the coach he became,” Kurt Thompson said.

Thompson was a head coach at Park Hills High School in Fairborn from 1971-80. One of his players was Rob Fada, who blocked for Dan Marino at Pittsburgh and played three seasons in the NFL and whose son Craig now plays for Ohio State.

Thompson later coached youth football in Enon for several years. He started coaching at Tecumseh in 1991. He was inducted into the Miami Valley Football Coaches Association Assistants Hall of Fame in 2009.

“He lived and breathed football,” Kurt Thompson said. “From the family’s standpoint, we are happy he was able to live out his passion every day.”

Shawnee head football coach Rick Meeks worked with Thompson at Fairborn High School and also coached with Thompson at Tecumseh right after he graduated from Wittenberg in 1993. He considered Thompson one of his great mentors.

“His name fit him perfect,” Meeks said. “He was just a tough guy. He was short in stature but he commanded respect. He’s what you call a grinder, a guy who works, works, works.”

Thompson never missed a game, even as he battled cancer in recent years, Massie said. He didn’t want the kids to know he was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation. He was working with players in the weight room up until several weeks ago.

“He had a tremendous amount of passion,” Massie said. “He was a great leader. He made everyone around him better. The people around him had so much respect for him. He cared about people and the kids. He never cared about recognition. He impacted so many kids here, demanding the best out of them. He’s made a lasting impression on a lot of people he’s coached.”

Thompson is survived by his wife of 47 years, Connie, two children, Kurt and Maggie (Thompson) Hall, and four grandchildren.