Clyde Hart, who coached Olympic 400m gold medalists Michael Johnson, Sanya Richards-Ross and Jeremy Wariner while spending 56 years leading Baylor’s track and field program, has died at age 91 after a lengthy cancer bout.
“Coach Hart is one of the legends in track and field. He will truly be missed,” Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades said in a press release. “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’s most famous coach-athlete relationship was with Johnson, whom Hart recruited to Baylor out of Dallas in 1987 and guided throughout his professional career.
“Coach had a positive impact on literally hundreds of people, as a coach, teacher, mentor and father figure to so many athletes,” Johnson wrote in an email. “And with the exception of myself and a few others, most did not become Olympic champions. Many are successful in their own right and credit the time they spent with Coach for putting them on the path to success. He took his role as a coach seriously and understood the impact he could have on young people. He was much more than a coach for me. He was like a second father. Our coach-athlete relationship was the best I could have ever hoped for, as we were like minded in our pursuit of excellence and unafraid to take on the greatest challenges. We were together in my most difficult times and my most significant triumphs as an athlete.”
With Hart, Johnson won Olympic 200m and 400m gold in 1996 and 400m gold in 2000, plus broke world records in both events.
“As the years went by, we would almost read each other’s mind,” Hart said in a video interview published in 2022.
After Johnson’s golds in 1996 and 2000, Wariner made it another Hart-coached man to win the next Olympic 400m title in 2004. He did so after his sophomore season in Waco.
“Rest Easy, Coach Hart,” Wariner posted after Hart’s death.
Richards-Ross turned to Hart as a coach after she went pro following her sophomore season at the University of Texas. Under Hart, she won Olympic 400m bronze in 2008 and gold in 2012.
“The selflessness, love, dedication and passion he poured into me and countless others is unparalleled,” Richards-Ross posted. “We journey together for 13 years attempting each year to be the best in the world… we achieved that and so much more. His unwavering support and love for me beyond my track prowess made us more like family than colleagues and it’s that love and friendship I’ll always cherish most.”
Hart was head coach at Baylor from 1963 to 2005, then served as director of track and field in Waco until 2019.
