Rick Thompson's tenure as North Warren's head wrestling coach lasted about one month.
Thompson, 69, who was approved at a Board of Education meeting on July 15, told Open Mike on Thursday night that he submitted a resignation letter approximately two weeks ago.
The Phillipsburg Hall of Famer, who resides year-round in Myrtle Beach, S.C., cited concerns over not being in the building and living arrangements in-season up north.
"I was only going to be there three months [during the season] and that's not how you run a program," said Thompson, who said his resignation had nothing to do with the school's leadership or any other circumstance. "I hope they can find [a coach] worthy of the program. I'm just sorry it didn't work out."
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| Thompson joined the Slippery Rock HOF in 2021 |
"I just want to help kids," Thompson said during an interview with Open Mike when his name surfaced for a potential fourth stint with the Stateliners a few years ago.
North Warren, which went 2-20 in 2023-24 and has won just nine dual meets in the past three seasons, began the coaching search when former Kittatinny state placewinner and High Point assistant coach Kellen Bradley resigned as a teacher and head wrestling coach in late March. His teams went 43-83 overall in his six seasons with the Blairstown-based school.
Bradley, who was hired in January as a teacher at Kittatinny for the 2024-25 school year, will reunite with his former coach John Gill as an assistant on the Cougars' staff this coming winter. Former High Point star and North Warren head coach Chris Jones, who was Bradley's ace assistant, also won't return to the Patriots' staff.
It's unclear where North Warren will now turn to find its next head coach,
Thompson is the Phillipsburg wrestling program's all-time winningest coach with a mark of 268-54-1 in 15 seasons across three stints (1980-88, 1991-95 and 2003-06). He guided the 'Liners to 15 sectional titles, the most under any head coach, and eight state championships (five in Group 3, three in Group 4), as well as six runner-up finishes. He won the Wilfred E. Cann Award as New Jersey's Coach of the Year in 1988 and coached 96 district, 39 region and nine individual state champions.
Considered one of the sport's premiere motivators, Thompson stepped down after nine seasons as the head coach at Bangor Area High School in Pennsylvania following the 2016-17 campaign and took over at Bethlehem Catholic for a short 6-1 stint in 2018-19.
"Wrestling is so demanding mentally," said Thompson, a retired health and physical education instructor, during an interview in 2022. "I had people who motivated me. My job was to make a better athlete and find a way to push those buttons in a positive way.
"Our kids may lose because the other guy is more talented, but not because they were in better shape or stronger. Some kids I coached went on to college and have been successful [off the mat], and I'm proud of that."
Thompson is 477-232-4 overall, with wrestling stops at Mountain High School (now West Orange), Hackettstown, Franklin and Voorhees in addition to his Pennsylvania stints. As a wrestler, he won two state titles (1971 and '73) and placed third ('70), to go with four district and three region championships for the Stateliners under Thad Turner (1970) and later Jan Dutt (132-25 from 1970-80).
Both coaches also attended Thompson's Hall of Fame induction at Slippery Rock.
