John Thompson, the former defensive coordinator at Arkansas and two-time bowl-winning interim head coach for Arkansas State, has been hired to lead the defense at Parkview High School in Little Rock.
Thompson, 70, will serve on the staff of Bobby Bolding at Parkview, which won three consecutive Class 5A football championships from 2023-25. Thompson most recently served as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Blessed Trinity High in Roswell, Georgia, for the 2017-18 seasons. His most recent college job was DC for Texas State under Dennis Franchione in 2014 and 2015. He also served as DC and LB coach under Gus Malzahn and Bryan Harsin at A-State, leading the Red Wolves to wins in the GoDaddy Bowl as interim coach each season.
Thompson was the co-DC and DC in 2000 and 2001 for the Razorbacks under Houston Nutt. An all-star at Forrest City High, Thompson played college ball as a defensive back at UCA. He launched his coaching career in 1982 as a graduate assistant at Arkansas. Within five years, he was the LB coach at Alabama. He was the head coach at East Carolina for the 2003 and 2004 seasons, over which his teams went 3-20. Other stops included Northwestern State, Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss, Memphis, Florida, Ole Miss and Georgia State.
“We are really proud to have a coach with John Thompson’s experience and expertise,” Bolding said. “He’s definitely a huge add for our program.”
In addition to Thompson, Bolding has added longtime Arkansas prep coach Maurice Moody, who turned around the old Little Rock McClellan program and whose son plays quarterback at Parkview, and former Maumelle head coach Brian Maupin to the staff.
READ ALSO: Kembralyn Redman Promoted to Community Engagement Officer at First Community Bank
