Wayne Grandy
MOULTRIE — Colquitt County football coach Rush Propst remembers former assistant Mac Thompson, who died of a heart attack Wednesday night, not only as an excellent coach, but also as “a guy who had his priorities right.”
“He was the kind of guy you’d want your son to play for,” Propst said of Cook High coach. “And he was also a man of faith and a man of family. He was the ultimate family man.”
Thompson took over the Cook program last season and led the Hornets to the Class AA state quarterfinals, where they lost to Buford 26-0 to finish 7-5.
He had worked as an assistant for Propst at Hoover High in before taking over the Calera High program in Calera, Ala.
Calera was 28-9 in three season before Thompson left last February for Adel.
Thompson, who was 39, passed out at school on Wednesday and was taken to Adel Memorial Hospital, where was revived.
Later Wednesday night, he suffered a massive heart attack.
He is survived by his wife Regina and four sons, who are in eighth, seventh, fifth and second grades.
A memorial service was held Thursday night at New Life Baptist Church in Adel. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Concornd Baptist Church in Calera, Ala.
Propst, who spent some time early Thursday with Thompson’s wife and family, said Thompson had had no previous heart problems.
“It’s really, really shaken me,” Propst said.
After the Cook season ended, Thompson attended several Colquitt County practices. He also attended a Packers game during his team’s off-week, Propst said.
Propst and Thompson also kept in touch in recent months and had agreed for their schools to play each other the next two seasons.
Cook is scheduled to visit Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium on Aug. 20, to open the 2010 season.
Thompson brought his Cook High team, and its spread offense, to Moultrie in July to take part in the Packer Select 7-on-7 Invitational.
The Hornets eliminated the Packers in tournament and advanced to the championship game, where it lost to Columbia High of Lake City Fla, 25-19.
“He felt really good about his program,” Propst said.
It was the second death the Cook High football program has had to deal with in nine months.
Last May, just three months after Thompson was hired, senior Roy White collapsed and died during a spring football practice.
