Coach Clyde Hart

Clyde Hart went home to be with our Savior on Saturday, November 1, 2025. Friends may pay their last respects between 8:00 am – 5:00 pm on Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at OakCrest Funeral Home, 4520 Bosque Blvd. Waco, Texas. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at First Baptist Church of Waco, 500 Webster Ave. Waco, Texas at 1:00 pm on Thursday, November 6, 2025 with Pastor Matt Snowden officiating. A reception will follow at the church after the service. He will have a private family burial at Oakwood Cemetery in Waco. Pallbearers are Danny Brabham, Todd Harbour, David Hoffower, John McKinsey, Chuck Mulliner, Gwin Morris, Ken Weithorn, Carl Wiesenhan, and Grant Teaff.

Hart was born February 3, 1934, in Eudora, Arkansas, to Erma Lee Hart and Baptist minister Thomas Clyde Hart. He starred as a state championship-winning sprinter at Hot Springs High School in Hot Springs, Arkansas, graduating in 1952. Hart’s blazing speed earned him a scholarship to Baylor, where he set several school records before graduating in 1956. He later got a master’s degree in education from the University of Arkansas.

While a student at Baylor, Clyde met and fell in love with Maxine Barton. After graduation in 1956, they married and moved to Wink, Texas. Hart worked for the Pan American Oil Company for a year before discovering his true calling of coaching.

He worked as the head track and field coach and head athletic trainer at Little Rock Central from 1957 to 1963, experiencing the tumultuous years of integration in Little Rock. In 1963, Baylor University hired Clyde for his dream job, following Jack Patterson as head track and field coach. He led the Bears for 56 years, longer than any other Baylor coach in history, and the university’s track and field facility is named in his honor.

With a tireless work ethic, Hart chased excellence and ran it down more often than not. He won numerous honors during his coaching career, among them the Arkansas Track Coach of the Year award five times, the Southwest Conference Indoor Coach of the Year four times and the NCAA Coach of the Year honor twice. In 2008, he was named International Track and Field Coach of the Year by the IAAF. He also won the National Coach of the Year award from the USA Olympic Committee three times and the Nike Coach of the Year by USA Track and Field three times.

Hart was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, the Drake Relays Hall of Fame, the Houston Meet of Champions Hall of Fame, the Baylor Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Texas Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Hart attended his first Olympic Games in 1968 in Mexico City and became a fixture at the Summer Games in the decades to come. He coached several U.S. national teams in international events and was selected as a Team USA coach for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Most of his Olympic experiences, though, can be traced back to the outstanding athletes who he considered fortunate to coach. He served as the personal coach for Michael Johnson, one of the greatest track and field athletes in history, as winner of five Olympic gold medals and the only man to win the 200 and 400 meters in the same Olympics. Between Johnson, Jeremy Wariner, Darold Williamson, Sanya Richards-Ross, and Greg Houghton, Coach Hart’s athletes combined for a total of 15 Olympic medals and 21 World Championships.

Baylor President Herb Reynolds presented Hart with the Distinguished Achievement Award in 1992; the historic Baylor Alumni Association honored him as a Distinguished Alumnus in 1997, and President Ken Starr and the current Baylor Alumni also honored him as a Distinguished Alumnus in 2014.

Hart was a dedicated member of First Baptist Church for 62 years, where he served as a deacon.

After retiring, Clyde enjoyed traveling the world with Maxine and hitting the links regularly with his golfing buddies. He always found time to attend his grandchildren’s games and activities and considered himself their biggest fan.

Hart was preceded in death by his mother and father, and his brothers, Thomas Lee Hart and John Calvin Hart.

Survivors include his beloved wife of 69 years, Maxine Barton Hart; sons, Greg Patterson Hart and Scott Barton Hart and wife Kimberly Ann; grandsons, Ryan Walter Hart and wife Taylor and Mason Clyde Hart and wife Nicole; granddaughter, Kennedy Ann Razo and husband Nathan; great-grandson, Thorne Scott Hart; brother, James B. Hart and wife Carolyn; sister-in-law, Ann Barton Jones; and brother-in-law, Dr. Gerald Cobb.

Coach Hart also considered his athletes to be like family, from his Olympic and NCAA champions to his walk-ons.