During his 31 year track & field coaching career Thornton coached athletes to a combined 35 NCAA event titles, more than 300 All-America honors, and 161 conference championships.Thornton lettered in two sports at TCU – football (WR, DB & RB) and track & field from 1967-1969. He was drafted in the 14th round of the 1969 AFL draft by the Buffalo Bills. From 1977 to 1981 he was the athletic director and head football coach at his alma mater, Keller High School. He then returned to TCU to coach track and field (1982-1995), and then eventually to the University of Texas (1996-2013). He won 11 men’s Big 12 conference championships – (six indoor: 1999, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013 & five outdoor: 1997, 1999, 2003, 2006, 2013) and one SWC Men’s Outdoor Championship in 1996. He was selected to coach the 1996 USA World Junior Championship team, served as Asst. Head Coach of the USA Olympic Team in 2000, and was head coach of the 2003 USA World Championship team and the 2008 USA Olympic Track & Field Team in Beijing. Thornton was named Big 12 Coach of the Year ten times (Indoor: 1999, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2013 & Outdoor: 1997, 1999, 2003, 2006, 2013), USTFCCCA South Central Region Indoor Coach of the Year (2006, 2007), USTFCCCA South Central Region Outdoor Coach of the Year (2006), NCAA District VI Coach of the Year (1999). He has coached 34 NCAA national championships (27 individual & 7 relays) Thornton was also inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame in 2015 and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2024.
