Former coach remembered as a mentor

How good it is to be thankful for having had a great mentor or leader.

How good it is to have played for or coached under Dave Thompson.

Thompson died last week, age 65, from complications related to cancer.

He coached at Marina for 12 years, over two periods. From 1978 through '85, he put together a 58-32-3 record. He took a break, needed for what he candidly called "burnout," then was the Vikings' head coach again from 1991-94, during which they went 23-18-1. The Marina football program has had a difficult time staying above or around .500 since.

A memorial service is at Grace Lutheran Church in Huntington Beach on Dec. 5 at 2 p.m. The place will be packed.

Marina football was having a tough time of it when Thompson took over in '78.

"He turned the program around," said Bob Grandstaff, who was a standout quarterback during Thompson's first years there, and was an even better athlete in baseball, which he played at Arizona State and in the San Diego Padres' system.

"His football IQ was unmatched," said Grandstaff, now an accountant for a major real estate development firm in the county. "He made everybody better, in terms of our dedication. He had a good heart and great patience, and that patience paid off."

Paul Renfrow was one of those fire-breathing young coaches when he arrived at Marina in 1983 to coach baseball and freshman football. He learned from Thompson that toughness and compassion could coexist.

"What Dave did so well was the way he could communicate with the kids," Renfrow said. "He was always coaching the coaches, too, showing them how to coach. The one thing I really learned most from Dave was to be consistent in everything you're doing."

Everybody will give thanks Thursday, and the friends of Dave Thompson will do so again Dec. 5.

Taking a look around Orange County high school sports:

•One of the smartest, and simplest, improvements the CIF-Southern Section has made over recent years is doing coin flips in advance to determine home teams for all potential matchups in future rounds. When football teams got the brackets and found out who their first-round opponents would be Nov. 15, coin flips were done right then at the CIF office and at satellite sites to determine home teams for second-round games for which a coin flip would have to determine the home team. This allowed schools to secure home sites well in advance.

•The Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks-Mission Viejo second round Pac-5 Division playoff game has been moved to an 8 p.m. starting time Friday because it is being televised live by Prime Ticket. Both teams' coaches had to approve the moving of the game to make the telecast viable. The schools get 20 percent each of the rights fees paid by Prime Ticket (CIF-SS gets the other 60 percent), but playing on big-time TV also is a fun opportunity for the athletes Friday night and for as long as they keep replaying their recording of the game.

•The one-week early signing period for basketball, baseball, softball and several other sports closed last week. The next signing period begins Feb. 3, when athletes in football, soccer, track and field, cross country and men's water polo can begin signing letters of intent. That signing period ends April 1; the late signing period for basketball and athletes in many other sports starts next April 14.

•Despite missing a game because of injury, Tustin running back Anthony Wilkerson has regained the county lead in rushing with 2,322 yards. Cypress' Akeelie Muhammad is next, at 2,156 yards a game; Muhammad's 11.3 yards a carry leads the county for those with more than 700 total rushing yards. Wilkerson leads the county with a busy 31 carries per game.

•A planned post-CIF championships Southern California regional water polo tournament was cancelled Monday because not enough top teams elected to play in it. Some teams in the Southern and San Diego sections decided that, hey, our CIF section competition is done, that was enough, we're satisfied, let's call it a season. That's kind of refreshing.

•The winter sports season is upon us. Wrestling competition can start Saturday, and boys and girls basketball and soccer, and girls water polo, can commence opening games and matches Monday.

•We still need surveys for winter sports teams. Coaches can click here to download surveys and can return them to us via mail, e-mail or fax. All the pertinent return information is at the link.