Stillwater legend won four titles
in 29 years with the Ponies

by Mike Sonntag, Let’s Play Football Co-Publisher

We have all heard of the legendary coaches; John Wooden (UCLA Basketball), Vince Lombardi (Green Bay Packers), Red Auerbach (Boston Celtics), Pat Summitt (Tennessee Women’s Basketball), Bill Belichick (New England Patriots).  Why have we heard about them? The obvious reason is they won titles and coached their teams to dynasties in their coaching era, with all but Bill Belichick having passed on long ago. The other reason is less advertised, but twice as important; they brought out the best in their players and were masterful in how they understood the minds of their players. Though these coaches are often celebrated after their careers are done, understanding new legends are being made right in front of our eyes everyday might lead to a greater appreciation of their tactics and standards in the present.

Earlier this month the state of Minnesota lost one of those legendary coaches when George Thole passed away at the age of 86 years old.  Though Thole does not carry the same national recognition as those named above, his impact on the game of football and the players and coaches who played for and against him during his 29-year tenure at Stillwater High School was impressive. If you are a young player and your father or grandfather played Minnesota high school football in the 1970’s through 1990’s and they will tell you the name George Thole was synonymous with Stillwater Ponies football.  To the opposition he was an intimidating figure backed by a roster of players that covered the sidelines in red and white from the 25-yard line to the 25-yard line. To his players he was equal parts demanding, equal parts fair.

Thole’s coaching journey from a small town in North Dakota to being inducted into five different Hall of Fames is one that saw him surrounded early by peers and players who went on to remarkable things, before he separated himself into a class of his own. 

George Thole began his coaching career at Central Castleton, ND (30 minutes from Fargo) where he was hired to teach phy-ed, coach football, coach junior high basketball, coach varsity track, then varsity wrestling. His football teams from 1965-1967 went 27-0. A running back and linebacker on those football teams was Bill Demaray, a multi-sport athlete who was heavily recruited as a wrestler. Thole’s only son Eric Thole believes coaching wrestling was the first glimpse of his father’s genius and adaptability as a coach. After a successful college career Demaray went on to build Apple Valley into a wrestling powerhouse in the late 1970’s. George Thole loved to let people know he was Bill Demaray’s high school coach “which was 100% truthful and 100% misleading” Eric Thole said.  “My dad knew nothing about wrestling so Demaray would go wrestle with the college kids at NDSU, then come back and teach my dad the moves.”  

Thole’s success was noticed by then U of Minnesota coach Murray Warmath who brought him on as an assistant in 1968 to coach the freshman for the Golden Gophers.  On that team was a guy who also went on to wrestling fame….Rick Flair.  

He was later hired at Richfield High School under Dick Walker to be the defensive coordinator where he was joined on staff by Larry Hendrickson, who went on to legend in the Minnesota high school hockey scene. “Back in the 1960’s and 1970’s the Lake Conference was the powerhouse conference in Minnesota and there were some prominent names on Walker’s staff that went on to great things.” Eric Thole recalled.

After spending two years at Richfield George Thole moved to the east side when he was hired as the head football coach for the Stillwater Ponies.  In 29 years as the Stillwater head football coach, his Ponies played in 6 state title games going 4-2.  His first state title came in 1975 when Thole beat Dick Walker’s Richfield Spartans 20-17 with a walk-off touchdown on the last play of the game. In 1977 the Ponies lost to Minneapolis Washburn 13-0 in the state final.

Click here to watch: The Program – Stillwater: Commitment

Thole and his Ponies established themselves as the dominant Minnesota High School program making it to the Prep Bowl three times in the 1980s. In 1982 they beat Owatonna 34-27, 1984 they beat Burnsville 36-33, and Burnsville exacted revenge 21-7 in 1989. 

Thole built his program from the youth levels on up into a machine starting with a dominant offensive line while perfecting an offensive scheme known as the veer offense. Thole was particularly good at putting players in the best position for success. 

“Dad would always say the offensive line was the most important part of the team, thus he coached the offensive line.” Eric Thole recalled. “So many kids would want to carry the football, and dad would say I’d love for you to carry the football, but it would be such a waste of a fine guard.” 

Greg Sayers, a lineman for Thole in the late 80’s to early 90s recognized how important the O-line was to Thole. “He had lots of coaches for the other positions, but he was with the O-line every day. If he were still here and asked me to run through a wall for him I would do it,” said Sayers.

He was a hard-nosed and demanding coach who commanded discipline and respect, but there was a catch. 

“He would get in your face and break you down in practice, but he would never let you leave practice before pumping you back up,” said Aaron Runk, a star player for Thole in the mid-90’s. “I never felt like he didn’t have my back.” 

Dick Weinberger was a coach on Thole’s staff before coaching at Tartan High School and once told Eric Thole that he heard George chew out 100 kids, and every one of them was planned.  

Eric Thole graded his father’s coaching style, “I would give him a solid B+ for X’s and O’s, but an A+ in understanding the minds of 16- to 18-year-old kids, he knew what buttons to push.”

Few teams could stop the veer when run with a quarterback that could read the defense and quickly choose to either hand off to the dive back, keep, or pitch to the tailback. There was even a book Thole published with Jerry Foley in 2004 called “From Veer to Eternity: Coaching a Football Dynasty.” This type of offense has evolved into what teams use today called the Run Pass Option (RPO) with the main difference being the quarterback lining up in the shotgun. The other subtle thing that made Thole’s offense different was his use of a rubber football instead of the typical pigskin.  

“My dad always looked for an edge. He read somewhere that rubber footballs were easier to grip in the cold and the rain so he made sure his teams always had the edge for that one rainy game where it might matter.” Eric Thole said.

Through the years teams rose up to challenge Stillwater during their run under George Thole. White Bear Lake was Stillwater’s biggest rival, in large part because of the proximity of the two towns. In 1984 White Bear Lake beat Stillwater for the only time under George Thole in the regular season, but Thole’s legend grew when his Ponies exacted revenge on the Bears in the playoffs. Blaine proved to be a tough rival in the late 1980’s and 1990’s under Dave Nelson. Nelson said he and Thole, though foes, became great friends. 

“He used to send me his school picture every year. I had 9 or 10 head shots on George on my bulletin board.”  Nelson said. “Every game with the Ponies were a classic.  They beat us in 1987 with a fake punt from their own 7-yard line.”

Stillwater won their last state title in 1995 with a 31-7 win over Rochester Mayo. 

George Thole finished with a record of 284-69-2 and is an inductee in the Petaluma (CA) high school, North Dakota State, Stillwater high school, MSHSL, and MFCA Hall of Fames. 

Eric Thole said numerous former players have reached out since his father’s passing and not one of them has mentioned a title or a game they won. He said they all start out with “Let me tell you about the time coach Thole chewed my ass.”  

They broke the mold with George Thole and coaches like him are missed in the sport today.