 | | Head track and field coach Clyde Hart will stop by for a live chat on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 11 a.m. |
In his 41st year as Baylor's head track and field coach, Clyde Hart has a program firmly established as one of the nation's best. Hart's men's teams consistently place in the NCAA's Top 10, while the women's squad has begun to regularly produce NCAA All-Americans, as well as national and conference champions. Last season eight athletes earned All-America honors, including April Holliness in the long jump and Jordan Willmann?s outstanding performance in the heptathlon. Jeremy Wariner was an All-American by finishing seventh in the 400, while the men?s 4x400-meter relay squad of Brian McDonald, Darold Williamson, Wariner and Jamen Saziru kept intact a 19-year streak of all-America finishes by placing fifth. Hart's most celebrated pupil is former Bear Michael Johnson. Johnson is the current World Record holder in the 200 and 400, and the reigning Olympic champion in the 400 meters. Johnson?s most recent accomplishment was a world record clocking of 43.18 in the 400 at the World Championships in Seville, Spain, where he successfully defended his title. Johnson also holds the world record in the 200 at 19.32 and has won a combined five Olympic gold medals. A 1956 graduate of Baylor University, Hart has received practically every honor that can be bestowed upon a track and field coach. The longest tenured Baylor head coach in school history, Hart has been inducted into the USA Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, Baylor University Hall of Fame, the Houston Meet of Champions, as well as the Drake Relays Hall of Fame and the Arkansas Track and Field Hall of Fame. He was named a Distinguished Alumni by the Baylor Alumni Association in 2000 and received the Distinguished Achievement Award from then-Baylor chancellor Herbert H. Reynolds in 1992. During the 2001 Homecoming festivities, the Baylor Alumni Association awarded him the W. R. White Meritorious Service Award and he earned the 2003 Reynolds Award. Hart is also the first living person to have a building or athletic facility at Baylor named for him. The Hart-Patterson Track and Field Complex is where the Baylor track team competes today. |
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 |  | Clyde Hart: Good morning, everyone. Let's get started. |
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| Dr. Frank D. Ward, Bakersfield, CA: No question coach, just a desire to say a tremendous "Thank You" for the incredible contribution you have made all these years to Baylor athletics. I am so grateful for your standard of excellence year after year no matter what else may have been happening with our beloved school. As far as I am concerned you have no equal in your profession and Baylor has been most fortunate to have your services. All the best in 2004 and beyond. Sic'em Bears! |
| | Clyde Hart: Thank you Frank for your remarks. We'll keep on, keep on. |
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| Steve (San Jose, CA): What is Michael Johnson up to now? |
| | Clyde Hart: He is living in the San Francisco area, broadcasting for BBC, doing consulting and motivational speaking and has formed a speed-enhancement company. |
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| Dwain-Waco: You have had so many great quarter milers during your time at Baylor. Who would you have on a dream team mile relay of all your pupils? |
| | Clyde Hart: This would be difficult, because it is difficult to compare kids from different time periods. I can name several that I would definitely want to go to war with. Of course you would start with Michael Johnson, Raymond Pierre, Willie Caldwell - these guys were all NCAA individual champions in their events as well as great relay runners. And of course Brandon Couts is another former NCAA champion that couldn't be overlooked on one of these teams. You can already see the problem I'm having because I haven't mentioned Deon Minor, a two-time NCAA 400 meter champion. I think you can see what a tough task this would be without me inadvertantly leaving somebody off. |
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| Carson (Waco): Are the men going to have a 4x100 relay team, and if so, who will be on it? |
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| Carson (Waco): Are the men going to have a 4x100 relay team, and if so, who will be on it? |
| | Clyde Hart: We hope to, but it is difficult with only 12 1/2 scholarships to always be competitive in all events. On the men's side, where the limitation is small, we have tried to go quality that carries over into the national meet. We hope to run Darold Williamson, Jeremy Wariner, Jamen Saziru and possibly Braelon Davis, the son of a former conference champion sprinter and football player, Bruce Davis. If football time restraints permit this to happen. If not, we will have to draw on possibly former football player Robert Quiroga, Stephen Harbour and other kids that we will be looking at to field this fourth spot. We feel that we have the possibility of an outstanding relay team in Williamson, Wariner, Saziru and Davis. |
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| Chaime Breaux - TCU: I was just wondering why Jeremy and Darold don't run more two hundreds. They have both ran 20-point before. |
| | Clyde Hart: Their primary event is the 400 and we will as we did last year run them 200s when we feel it is advantageous to helping them in the 400 or the team. Injuries will always play a factor in why certain athletes do not do more than they are doing. |
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| Brian (Baytown): Coach Hart, What are the chances of BU ever getting an indoor track facility? If I remember correctly OU is the only school in the Big 12 South that has an indoor track. Is this on your wish list? Sic'em Bears |
| | Clyde Hart: Actually Texas Tech has an excellent indoor facility. Most of the other schools in the South have indoor facilities that they can practice in, which certainly gives them an advantage. At the present time, our alternative to the cold, wet, windy days is to either run outside, which we do the majority of the time. However on occasions when there has been ice, etc., we have run in the corridor in the Ferrell Center. |
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| Jeff (Arlington): Do you ever think that the Baylor men's and women's teams would ever be completly separate from each other? Is Baylor one of the few schools that combines their men's and women's programs? |
| | Clyde Hart: Baylor was one of the first Universities to go to a combined program for men and women, because we felt it made a lot of sense both from the logistics problems and financial. I would venture to guess now that 90% of the track & field programs are combined programs. I believe I'm correct when I say only two of the Big 12 schools have split programs. |
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| Brett (Houston): Coach Hart, If and when you decide you have accomplished everything at Baylor and step down do you envison Todd Harbour or any of the current members of your staff taking over the BU program? I know the blood lines run thick for all of your staff. |
| | Clyde Hart: I would certainly feel comfortable with several of the current assistants on my staff being considered for my job. I am very fortunate to have what I consider the best staff in the country. |
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| Elric Esquire (Daytona Beach): I've heard that your training principle is based largely on volume and not so much on fast practicing. Could you comment on how this functions to prepare athletes to run fast? |
| | Clyde Hart: To answer this question would take several days, but basically my philosophy is that speed and strength are synonymous. Although we do volume work, we also supplement each workout with speed drills and technique work and I believe the results speak for themselves. |
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| Dre (Waco): Baylor has had some 400 hurdlers the past couple years. How does this year's crop look and who will be running them? Good luck this weekend. |
| | Clyde Hart: On the men's side, we will be hurting this year with the loss of Brian McDonald, our sole returnee from last year. But I can promise you that we are hard at work recruiting in this area and feel like we're on to some good recruits. |
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| Mike (Arlington): Will Jeremy Wariner get to run the 200m at the indoor Big 12 meet? |
| | Clyde Hart: I would not even tell my wife at this point. You don't want to show your hand to your opposition before a conference meet. |
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| Douglas Patterson (Irving): How excited are you about having an overall outstanding team, instead of only quarter milers? |
| | Clyde Hart: We do feel that we will have national-quality people in several events before the outdoor nationals. There's a bigger chance always for a more rounded team on the women's side, because of more scholarships. |
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| Barry Ray, Greenville, SC: Congratulations on another phenomenal start to the year, Coach. I would love to be back in Waco covering you guys. I hear a lot about the relay teams at Clemson and SC, but am pleased to point out that BU's 1600 meter relay team has no peer right now. Which relay squads nationally concern you the most as your team readies itself for the national stage? |
| | Clyde Hart: At the national level, we never take any team there lightly. We have won on years when we weren't the best team, and we've lost in years where I felt we were the best team. We will respect everyone at the NCAA meet equally. |
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| Dave, Lenexa: Are the Oly Trials/Oly Games in your mind at all about any of your athlethes? Congrats on your program coach. |
| | Clyde Hart: We hope to have several, both men and women, at the Olympic Trials. |
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| JJ Wilson, Austin TX: do you believe in training a quarter miler from the 800 approach or the sprinter approach and how do you go about this. |
| | Clyde Hart: We are prepared to train both the 400/800 and the 200/400 type quarter-milers. The training is similar but with emphasis placed on their strengths. |
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| Rufus Watkins Class 1987: Dear Coach: Hi. It has been alongtime. Are you recruiting in California in the near future? John Garvey says hi!! |
| | Clyde Hart: Nice to hear from you. We will try to continue to do a good job. |
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| Tucson- Michael Savage: What are your hopes for the Big 12 Indoor coming up? |
| | Clyde Hart: We will approach the Big 12 meet as we have the other indoor meets. Simply trying to improve week-to-week and be ready for the NCAA Championships. |
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| Johnny(Dallas): How is your golf game? |
| | Clyde Hart: Why? Is this a challenge? Seriously, it's actually getting a little better, which is not saying a great deal. Thanks for asking. |
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| Mike (LA): The team is now ranked 6th in the trackwire, how do you think they will finish in a couple of weeks. |
| | Clyde Hart: As a prognosticator my record is not very good. I've given up doping meets many years ago, we'll just run and jump the best we can. |
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| Kay Whitley (Axtell): Your indoor team is always so successful. Any plans for an indoor track to train for those conditions and possibly host meets? |
| | Clyde Hart: I would like to say that our attempts to get an indoor facility would be better if we were doing bad. When you're doing well, people don't think you need it. |
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| James (Hewitt): Your team should be strong on the track at the Big 12 meet, how do you think your field event athletes will do? |
| | Clyde Hart: We just don't have many field event entries on the men's side. On the women's side, we will be more competitive. |
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| Kay Whitley (Axtell): Congratulations on all the great teams you have fielded over the years. Has the Big 12 scheduled the conference meet here again? Those have been such great events. |
| | Clyde Hart: Yes, we have the Big 12 Outdoor Championship in 2006. This will be the third time in nine years. |
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| Bobby (Austin): How do you sell Baylor's program to recruits, and what do you feel is your program and schools strongest aspect? |
| | Clyde Hart: I feel our athletes and the record of our program tends to sell itself. The University is an easy sell, it is a great academic University with Christian values and one of the prettiest campuses anywhere. |
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| Shawn (Dallas): What is your take on SMU killing their track and cross country programs? Are their any preventative measures non-revenue sports can take to ensure they won't be next? |
| | Clyde Hart: I'm saddened by the demise of the SMU program, it was never the intent of Title IX to carry the women's programs on the backs of men's programs. I fully support the funding that is going into women's sports, but I also feel there is something drastically wrong when the women's sports in comparable sports are being given more scholarships than the men's teams. Is this not discrimination in reverse? |
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| Jeff(Dallas): Are you looking for any 110 hurdlers, jumpers, sprinters etc, to help the Bears continue to be successful in the Big 12? |
| | Clyde Hart: In the early signing period, we have already signed one of the top high hurdlers in the country. |
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| Rusty (Georgetown): Coach: What is a good high jump height for women's. I have a niece jumping 5'6" as a junior? |
| | Clyde Hart: 5'6" is in the ballpark, but normally we get excited about jumpers that are clearing 5'10"-plus. |
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| Rudy, Waco: Your program is a "Tradition of Excellence. What would you say are the main keys to excellence? what motivates you the most to continue coaching? |
| | Clyde Hart: I continue coaching at this point in my career because of the athletes. There are a lot of disappointing things that happen during the day, but workout time I'm very seldom disappointed in the results. |
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| Steve (Denver): What would you say your biggest challenges have been in your time as the head track and field coach both on and off the track? Sic'em bears! |
| | Clyde Hart: Without a doubt and this may shock you my biggest challenge and greatest personal accomplishment has been the development of our women's track and field program. |
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| | Clyde Hart: Thank you everyone for your great questions and your support of our track program. I not only appreciate it, but I know our athletes do also. |
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