Thompson took over as leader of the MWC upon its creation in 1999. Since then, he’s established the MWC as the most powerful of the non-BCS conferences—a league whose members have proven themselves to be more than capable of competing with college football’s big boys.
During Thompson’s watch, the MWC has expanded twice—first by adding TCU in 2005 and then by grabbing Boise State in 2010. Bringing in the Broncos appeared to be a coup; unfortunately for Thompson, just a few days after welcoming Boise State, he saw the University of Utah depart for the Pac-10.
Thompson's greatest achievement may have been helping his league create its own network, The Mtn-MountainWest Sports Network. That network was the first ever created by a college athletic conference.
Thompson previously served as commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference and the long-long American South Conference, which lasted only four years before being folded into the Sun Belt.
