:W. G. Thompson

{{Short description|American educator, university administrator, and football coach}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = W. G. Thompson

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1865|8|15}}

| birth_place = Albany, New York, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1940|3|30|1865|8|15}}

| death_place = New York, New York, U.S.

| alma_mater =

| coach_sport1 = Football

| coach_years2 = 1893

| coach_team2 = Carlisle

| overall_record = 2–1

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record =

| championships =

| awards =

| coaching_records =

}}

William Grant Thompson (August 15, 1965 – March 30, 1940) was an American educator, university administrator, and college football coach. He served for 15 years as the executive director of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, school disciplinarian,[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AS&p_theme=as&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F7941BEE5955E1C&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Alaska Native Led Way To Big Time Sports], The Anchorage Daily News, December 30, 1997.[https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=jenkins/070806 ESPN Book Club: "The Real All Americans"], ESPN, August 9, 2007. and an instructor of business. He was also the school's first head football coach in 1893 and led the Indians to a 2–1 record.[http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_game_by_game.php?coachid=3522&year=1893 Coaching Records Game By Game] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407131925/http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_game_by_game.php?coachid=3522&year=1893 |date=2015-04-07 }}, College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved July 16, 2010. Thompson also coached the Carlisle baseball, basketball, and track teams for five years.[https://books.google.com/books?id=6mHXAAAAMAAJ The Carlisle Arrow, Volume IX, Number 9], Carlisle Indian Industrial School, November 1, 1919. From 1897 to 1907, he was in "practical charge of the athletics" at the school.

{{cite news |author= |title=Indian Athletes Make Fine Records |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-times/158632423/ |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York, New York |date=March 3, 1907 |page=9 |access-date=November 7, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }} In 1907, he left Carlisle to teach at Reading High School for three years.{{cite news |author= |title=W.G. Thompson, 74, Educator, Is Dead |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/03/31/archives/wg-thompson-74-educator-is-dead-executive-director-15-years-of.html |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York, New York |date=March 31, 1940 |page= |access-date=November 7, 2024 }}

Thompson was born in Albany, New York, where he attended local schools. He was a cadet at the United States Military Academy in 1885–86, but resigned after one year. He subsequently graduated from Chautauqua Normal School of Physical Education and New York University (NYU). Following an illness lasting several months, Thompson died on March 30, 1940, at the Knickerbocker Hospital in New York City.{{cite news |author= |title=Former Carlisle Indian School Teacher Dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sentinel-obituary-for-alice-thump/158631758/ |newspaper=The Sentinel |location=Carlisle, Pennsylvania |date=April 1, 1940 |page=2 |access-date=November 7, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com {{Open access}} }}