MSCC Class of 2015

Ron Thomson

Head Strength and Conditioning Coach

Ron Thomson started his career as a football coach upon graduating from California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo in California. Strength and conditioning soon became his career focus, and he became the Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach at Southern Methodist University in 1982- the only Division I, unbeaten football team in 1982.

From SMU, Ron traveled to the University of Wyoming, The University of Northern Colorado, and then Marshall where he became the University's first Strength Coach. In 1987 Ron became the first Strength & Conditioning Coach at Boise State University, where he was instrumental in the design and equipping of the original J. R. Simplot Strength Complex. While at BSU, Ron was named the 1989 NSCA Collegiate Strength Coach of the Year Region IV and was a Nominee for the NSCA National Collegiate Strength Coach of the Year in 1990.

Ron then began teaching and coaching at Auburn High School where he was a finalist for the NSCA National High School Strength Coach of the Year in 1996 before winning the award the following year.

In 1999 Ron accepted the position of Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coordinator at Purdue University, where he spent 12 years working with multiple bowl teams and talented athletes- several who went on to play in the NFL and MLB.

In 2011 Ron began a new program at Division III, Buena Vista University in Iowa, followed by a brief stint at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Ron began his present position, as the first Strength & Conditioning Coach at New Mexico Highlands University in 2014. Ron resides in New Mexico with his wife, Joanne, and their two standard poodles. Their son, Jon Anthony, and his wife, Rhonda, are both students at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon.