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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney
Friends, family, former coaches, players, principals and athletic directors attend the Celebration of Life service for Mountain Brook High School assistant football coach Mike Thorsen at Mountain Brook High School’s Spartan Arena on Monday, July 1, 2024. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney
Friends, family, former coaches, players, principals and athletic directors attend the Celebration of Life service for Mountain Brook High School assistant football coach Mike Thorsen at Mountain Brook High School’s Spartan Arena on Monday, July 1, 2024. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney
Friends, family, former coaches, players, principals and athletic directors attend the Celebration of Life service for Mountain Brook High School assistant football coach Mike Thorsen at Mountain Brook High School’s Spartan Arena on Monday, July 1, 2024. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney
Mountain Brook football head coach Chris Yeager speaks about the legacy of assistant coach Mike Thorsen during the Celebration of Life service at Mountain Brook High School’s Spartan Arena on Monday, July 1, 2024. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney
Dusty Smith, a former Homewood High School football player, speaks about the legacy of assistant coach Mike Thorsen during the Celebration of Life service at Mountain Brook High School’s Spartan Arena on Monday, July 1, 2024. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
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Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney
Friends, family, former coaches, players, principals and athletic directors attend the Celebration of Life service for Mountain Brook High School assistant football coach Mike Thorsen at Mountain Brook High School’s Spartan Arena on Monday, July 1, 2024. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Former and current principals, athletic directors, coaches and dozens of current and former players gathered at Spartan Arena on Monday, July 1 to honor the life and legacy of Mountain Brook High School assistant football coach Mike Thorsen.
Thorsen died June 25 just about a month after retiring from a 51-year coaching career.
Granddaughter Makenna Thorsen spoke about who Coach Thorsen was as a member of their family and the memories they will cherish.
“We were absolutely spoiled rotten by his presence in our lives,” McKenna said.
Recalling memories of Thorsen learning new sports to keep up with her and her brother and learning how to parallel park in his driveway with trash cans as obstacles on Thanksgiving. “Because no grandchild of his, let alone a grandchild driving a Jeep, was not going to know how to parallel park.” she said.
Mountain Brook head football coach Chris Yeager and Dusty Smith, a former player of Thorsen’s at Homewood High School in 1989, spoke about the legacy Thorsen made on the high school football scene in the Birmingham area over the past 35 years. He held coaching positions through the years at Mountain Brook, Homewood and Berry (Hoover) in addition to coaching in Florida.
“He demanded greatness from our players because he knew our players were capable of greatness." Yeager said.
Said Smith: “There was nothing like him and he was exactly what we needed.”
A video of coaching snippets and a chat in the locker room played on the video board in the arena as people laughed at the comments Thorsen made and the ambiance of his presence on the field that epitomized his spirit.
Tucker Crawford, a recent Mountain Brook High School graduate and former defensive back for the Spartans, spoke about the impact Coach Thorsen has had on his life.
“We loved him to death," Crawford said. "If you never got to talk to him, I promise you, that how he was stern on the field, was nothing like he was behind the scenes. He was the most loving, caring person. He’ll be greatly missed.”
