A Race Well-Run

Clyde Hart, B.B.A. ’56, the man who built Baylor track and field into “Quarter Miler U.” in his 56 years with the program, passed away Nov. 1, 2025, in Waco after a lengthy bout with cancer.

Hart coached 34 national champions (14 individual, 20 relays) and 566 All-America performances in his Hall of Fame Baylor career and was the personal coach for nine Olympians who won a total of 13 gold medals, one silver and three bronze.

Born Feb. 3, 1934, in Eudora, Arkansas, to Thomas Clyde and Emma Lee Hart, he was a three-year letterman at Baylor (1954-56) after initially committing to LSU.

After building Little Rock Central High School into one of the elite programs in the state in his first stint as a coach, Hart returned to Baylor as the head track and field coach in 1963.

“He pushed us to always be the best and to pursue excellence in everything we did,” said Todd Harbour, a five-time All-American and six-time conference champion who followed Hart as head coach in 2005 when Hart stayed on as director of track and field. “He was like a second father to me and so many others.”

Staying for another 14 years as the director while also coaching the 400-meter runners, Hart retired after the 2019 season.

“What can I say about Coach Hart? He was an amazing coach, phenomenal mentor and a second father to me,” said current head coach Michael Ford, B.B.A. ’97, a six-time All-American and two-time national champion for Hart at Baylor. “We lost a great man, Baylor legend and super human being.”

Selected as USA Track and Field’s 2004 and 2006 Nike Coach of the Year, Hart is a member of the Baylor Wall of Honor, Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, the USA Track & Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame.

He served as an assistant coach on USA’s 2000 Olympic team. The NCAA national indoor coach of the year in 1989 and 1996, Hart was also a four-time Southwest Conference indoor coach of the year and the Big 12 women’s indoor coach of the year in 2005.

“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.”

Fans wishing to honor Coach Hart’s legacy can give to the Track & Field Excellence Fund at bbis.baylor.edu/give.