GRANITE CITY – Kyle Thompson is the defensive coordinator for Granite City High School’s football team, which is working hard to change the fortunes of the program around in a positive, upbeat direction.
The Warriors went 0-9 in 2024, but did not surrender, nor give up, and kept fighting until the end, which is not only a Granite City trademark.
In an interview conducted during a practice session at Memorial Stadium/Kevin Greene Field, Thompson expressed his pride in the team and how hard they’ve worked to overcome he adversity.
“We’re getting our guys going, we’re getting our guys well in shape, and we’ve been working hard,” Coach Thompson said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys out here, and they’ve been grinding, honestly. We’ve been working hard every day.”
Thompson is focused mainly on what’s called the one percenters in Australia – the little wins that all add up into big wins down the road for both his players and for the team.
“Honestly, my biggest hope this year is really, just to end on a positive note,” Thompson said. “I want to have everybody here have a good, successful season, and that’s not just about the wins and the losses, but just having individual goals, and being able to make the small goals first. If we can go catch a couple of wins this year, that’ll be a great thing, but the bottom line is, if our kids can finish some small goals for themselves and they can finish on a positive note individually, that’s what I’m hoping for this year. And as we continue to grow with these young guys, start something, and build a successful program.”
It’s still a young team, with a roster dominated by sophomores and juniors, maybe a few freshmen. The Warriors took their lumps in 2024, but the team kept hanging in and kept striving in every game. It’s definitely a good sign for the program.
“It is,” Thompson said, “and this year, we are junior and sophomore-led. We have about 23 juniors and about 15 sophomores right now, so if we can end with some individual success, and we can end with some guys on a positive note this year, that will be a big stepping stone moving forward to the future for these guys.”
It’s a very positive future ahead for Granite, indeed, as Thompson is very optimistic about what lies ahead.
“Yeah, it does,” Thompson said. “As I said, we’ve got a lot of young guys, and these guys are hungry to learn, and these guys are hungry to come out and work hard every day. We’ve been doing a lot of different weightlifting stuff, and we upped our summer agility program, so we’ve been doing a lot of different things this year, trying to get these boys ready.”
It’s a typical Granite City athletic team as well: “Good kids who work very hard every day, and once in a while, pull off a good thing that gets a lot of notice in the area.”
“Yeah, and that’s what we’re looking for,” Thompson said. “If we can get some good individual success this year, and start to get wins in some other areas, I think that will be a big stepping stone for us to our future.”
Thompson also encouraged the Granite community to support the players and the team in their endeavors.
“The only thing I can ask for is for the community to continue to support us,” Thompson said. “for the community to look at us, and help these boys out when they see them in the community, and continue to be on our side.”
