John D. Thome (January 8, 1942 – November 4, 2011) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at Lakeland College—known now as

Lakeland University Lakeland University is a private university with its main campus in Plymouth, Wisconsin. Lakeland University is affiliated with the United Church of Christ. Lakeland also has seven evening, weekend, and online centers located throughout the st ...

—in

Plymouth, Wisconsin Plymouth is a city in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, along the Mullet River. It is included in the Sheboygan, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is located in the Town of Plymouth, but is politically independent. Plymouth is kno ...

from 1967 to 1980, compiling a record of 77–54–2. Thome was also the head baseball coach at Lakeland in 1972 and from 1977 to 1980. Thome was born on January 8, 1942, in

Port Washington, Wisconsin Port Washington is the county seat of Ozaukee County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on Lake Michigan's western shore east of Interstate 43, the community is a suburb in the Milwaukee metropolitan area 27 miles north of the City of Mil ...

, to Rosalia Horn Thome and Wilfred N. Thome. He graduated from

Port Washington High School Port Washington High School is a public secondary high school in the city of Port Washington, Wisconsin and a part of the Port Washington-Saukville School District. The enrollment during the 2022–2023 school year was 825. Eric Burke served as th ...

in 1960 and attended Oshkosh State College—now known as the

University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh (UW Oshkosh or UW Osh) is a public university in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs to nearly 14,000 students ea ...

—where he lettered in football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and baseball. Thomas played football for years at Oshkosh State at a number of positions:

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

, halfback, and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

. He began his coaching career at Chilton High School in

Chilton, Wisconsin Chilton is a city in and county seat of Calumet County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 4,080 at the 2020 census. The city is located partially within the Town of Chilton. History The first residents of Chilton were Africa ...

in 1964. After a year as an assistant in football and basketball, he was promoted to head coach in both sports. Thomas led Chilton's football team to a record of 15–1–1 in two seasons as head coach before he was hired as the head football coach at Lakeland in April 1967. Thome was named the

Illini–Badger Football Conference The Illini-Badger Football Conference (IBFC) was an athletic conference with the NCAA's Division III. Member teams were located in Illinois and Wisconsin. As the name indicates, member teams only competed in football. They participated in other at ...

(IBFC) Coach of the Year in 1979. He resigned from his post at Lakeland in the spring of 1981. In 1982, Thome was hired as the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

at Illinois Benedictine College—now known as

Benedictine University Benedictine University is a private Roman Catholic university in Lisle, Illinois. It was founded in 1887 as St. Procopius College by the Benedictine monks of St. Procopius Abbey in the Pilsen community on the West Side of Chicago. The institu ...

—in

Lisle, Illinois Lisle ( ) is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,390 at the 2010 census, and in 2019 the population was recorded to be 23,270. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Illinois Technology and Resea ...

. Thome was inducted into the Lakeland College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997 and the

Wisconsin Football Coaches Association The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association is an association of American football coaches on all levels within the state of Wisconsin. An annual clinic of members is held in Madison, Wisconsin to promote the sport, primarily at the high school lev ...

(WFCA) Hall of Fame in 2001. Thome died on November 4, 2011, at Zilber Family Hospice in

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin Wauwatosa (; known informally as Tosa; originally Wau-wau-too-sa or Hart's Mill) is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 48,387 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Wauwatos ...

Head coaching record

College football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thome, John 1942 births 2011 deaths American football defensive backs American football fullbacks American football halfbacks American football quarterbacks Benedictine Eagles football coaches Lakeland Muskies baseball coaches Lakeland Muskies football coaches Wisconsin–Oshkosh Titans baseball players Wisconsin–Oshkosh Titans football players Wisconsin–Oshkosh Titans men's basketball players High school basketball coaches in Wisconsin High school football coaches in Wisconsin Northern Michigan University alumni People from Port Washington, Wisconsin Coaches of American football from Wisconsin Players of American football from Wisconsin Baseball coaches from Wisconsin Baseball players from Wisconsin Basketball coaches from Wisconsin Basketball players from Wisconsin