Legendary Track Coach Led Baylor Program For 56 Years, Mentored Michael Johnson And Jeremy Wariner Among Many Others

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Photo courtesy of Baylor University

Clyde Hart, one of America's most accomplished college track and field coaches, died Saturday in Waco, Texas after a long battle with cancer, according to Baylor University. He was 91. 

Hart turned Baylor into Quarter-Miler U. He coached Michael Johnson to a world record 43.18 seconds for 400 meters and two Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2000. Jeremy Wariner followed Johnson with gold in 2004.

Hart coached 34 national champions and 566 All-America performances during an illustrious career at Baylor that lasted from 1963 to 2019.

Hart stepped away from the head coaching duties in 2005, but remained the Director of Track and Field until he was 85 years old, in 2019.

Hart had success with athletes across the spectrum of events in track and field, not just the 400 meters.

Hart gave the first women's scholarship at Baylor to Suzie Snider in 1973. At the time, the Baylor athletic director refused to give women athletic scholarships. Hart gave up one of his men's scholarships to make it happen. Snider held the Baylor school records in the shot put and discus for more than 30 years. She also played basketball and scored with 3,861 points.

Hart, a Baylor graduate, started his coaching career at Little Rock Central High in Arkansas. He spent six years coaching high school before returning to his alma mater.

He was the personal coach for nine Olympians who won a total of 13 gold medals, one silver and three bronze. 

"Coach Hart is one of the legends in track and field. He will truly be missed," said Baylor Vice President and Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades. "He is the reason why coaching is such an honorable profession. The impact that he had on his student-athletes is immeasurable . . . just ask them."

Hart coached his first All-Americans in 1985. Willie Caldwell won the 500 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships and then anchored the 4x400 relay to a win at the NCAA Outdoor Championship.

That was the first of 20 national championships in the 4x400 relay between 1985 and 2009, when Quentin Iglehart-Summers anchored a group with Trey Harts, Marcus Boyd and LeJerald Betters to the indoor title.

Hart also coached seven national champions in the 400 meters, including Wariner, who won the NCAA indoor and outdoor titles before adding Olympic gold medals in the 400 and 4x400 relay at the 2004 Olympics.

Hart served as an assistant coach on USA's 2000 Olympic team, when Johnson won his second-consecutive 400-meter title after sweeping the 200 and 400 in 1996. 

"When you think of Baylor, you think of Coach Hart," current associate head coach Stacey Smith told the Waco Tribune-Herald. "It wasn't just the track program, it was the whole community. . . . He represented Baylor wherever he went."