Before Binghamton University track and field coach Mike Thompson won a collegiate national title, before he coached players at the Division I, II and III levels to the same, he rode a bus.

Thompson’s story begins on his elementary school bus in rural Nebraska, where he got to know Mrs. Derr, the bus driver. Little did Mrs. Derr know, she would become one of the most influential people in Thompson’s life.

As the mother of athletic track girls at Moral High School, Mrs. Derr always wore track shirts and talked about her eldest daughter, who was a state champion.

As a young troublemaker, Thompson was always stuck at the front of the bus.

“We had a lot of time to talk,” Thompson said. “That was where I really got interested in track and field.”

But actions speak louder than words.

Realizing the interest Thompson had for track, Mrs. Derr returned from the Nebraska State High School Championship with a T-shirt for him. That was his favorite shirt that he wore every day that summer.

“I am sure she has no clue what a huge effect she had on me,” Thompson said.

Eyes wide open

Thompson first took up track in junior high school. With only the top three athletes of each event traveling to meets, he became desperate to become a top contender in any event. After placing a disappointing fourth in the 100-meter dash and the long jump, Thompson set his eyes on the pole vault, a relatively unknown event to many young athletes.

A bad experience with the pole vault teacher, appropriately named Mr. Dick, caused Thompson to quit track — for a day. The next day, Charles Cooley, a jumper from the high school was named the junior high pole vault coach.

“We all thought he was a god because he could jump 11-6,” Thompson said.

Thompson rejoined the team. With only three jumpers, he was, by default, able to travel to meets.

A single-minded person, Thompson focused solely on pole vaulting in the summer between seventh and eighth grade. Thompson even created his own pole, using a piece of aluminum he found, and a practice bar, made out of two-by-fours.

“I was obsessed with it. Every single day I would go outside and would jump over stuff,” he said. “If there was something in my way, I was going to jump over it.”

Thompson dreamed big, envisioning winning the Nebraska State Championship and being in the Olympics.

During 10th grade, his family moved to a small town in Colorado. Thompson competed in the Colorado State Championship, where he jumped 13-0 to finish second. Two years later, he won the state championship, jumping 14-5. As a superstar senior, he started to raise eyebrows at some smaller Colorado colleges.

A new beginning

Life as an athlete at the University of Northern Colorado took Thompson by surprise.

Because he had never been part of a team that trained seriously, he assumed he would continue not to train and still perform better than everyone else.

“I was arrogant and very confident. I really underachieved,” Thompson said. “I was just a typical college freshman that had way too much fun. I thought I was invincible.”

Thompson cleaned up his act sophomore year when Scott Hall, the new coach, gave him an ultimatum: Hone your talent by working hard or you’re off the team. The young jumper qualified for indoor nationals his sophomore year.

“I went to the other extreme. I was a choir boy,” Thompson said. “I mentally burned out by focusing too much.”

That burnout forced Thompson to relearn everything. Things finally clicked for him during his junior year, when he met Dr. Peter McGinnis, biomechanist for the USATF and Olympic committees, whose job is analyzing the best vaulters in the world. McGinnis, a new kinesiology (the science of human movement) professor at Northern Colorado, and Thompson ended up living together. McGinnis used videos of the world’s best jumpers as an instructional tool for Thompson, who went from a personal best of 15-7 to 17-8 in the span of a year.

“That was when I started to realize I am pretty decent at pole-vaulting,” Thompson said.

Thompson won NCAA Division II titles in indoor and outdoor track during his senior year. He was now amongst the top 15 vaulters at the college level and the top 40 in the United States, and for a year or two thought he could take it to another level, jump over 18-0 and qualify for the U.S. Championships. That dream never quite happened and he maxed out at 17-8, but gave it his all.

“I was good enough that I had to give it a shot but I wasn’t good enough that I could actually make it happen,” he said.

He lacked the physical stature and speed that the top vaulters had. Thompson shrugged it off and moved on.

From track star to rock star to coaching star

Though he had a degree in journalism and a master’s degree in sports administration, Thompson moved to Boulder, Colo. to play bass guitar in an alternative rock band. He also picked up a job delivering futons for $6 per hour, but after eight months, he realized he was broke and irresponsible.

Thompson began a search for a coaching job in track and field and found an assistant coaching job at his alma mater. Shortly after, Thompson was named head coach at Binghamton University in 1994.

Thompson lucked out here, as Binghamton had interviewed three applicants, and liked none of them. Out of last-minute desperation to hire someone, they interviewed and chose Thompson, the fourth candidate.

Had that opportunity not come though, Thompson said he would probably be a journalist.

“I did not like writing about peoples’ successes as much as I like being directly a part of it,” he said.

His true calling

The transition from competing to coaching was tough for Thompson. He had mostly competed in field events and short distance races, making it difficult to properly coach his distance runners, frustrating himself and his athletes.

Being a competitive and driven athlete, he had to accept that not every athlete on his team would have that same passion.

“Eventually I realized that everyone has different priorities and that is just life,” Thompson said.

Over time, Thompson realized that coaching was truly his calling.

“Track and field gave me a purpose. It gave me a career, a lifestyle I enjoy. I met my wife through track,” he said. “I owe just about everything I have to it.”

Thompson loves coaching because he is able to work with young athletes and constantly move outside.

He indicated that though his job is hard, it is nothing compared to his previous jobs.

“To me coaching isn’t work. It is an absolute pleasure to be able to do this and actually get paid for it,” Thompson said. “I don’t think I can do a desk job.”

Thompson appreciates people who work harder than him and get paid less.

“Having worked those types of jobs, I always try to keep in perspective how incredibly fortunate I’ve been,” he said. “It’s important for people to remember all those hard-working people out there.”

Thompson is ready to make fun of his job.

“I watch people run around in a circle for crying out loud,” he joked.

As one door closes, another opens

Thompson said his key to success is determination.

“I have no tolerance for athletes that are not determined. I have no respect for talent unless that person does something with it.”

While many big-time track schools define success as winning national championships, Thompson believes success comes in other ways.

“Success is somebody running faster or jumping higher than they ever thought they possibly could.”

And that, he said, is why every one of his athletes, All-American or not, are very special to him.

“There are athletes that no one knows about that I could talk about forever.”

As an athlete and a coach, Thompson’s resume of accomplishments are impressive. But to him, only a few stand above the rest.

As a coach, his proudest accomplishments are tied between pole vaulter Rory Quiller winning Nationals and the men’s team placing second in this past winter. He believes Quiller can accomplish that Olympic dream that he could not.

“I wasn’t as tall or fast as Rory is.”

His proudest accomplishment as an athlete was winning the 2004 Empire State Games after recovering from a leg injury he sustained during the 2003 games. The 2004 games would prove to be his last competition.

“I competed in 2004 to prove I could still do it. I was 12 in my first competition and 37 in my last,” Thompson said. “It was time to let it go.”