GONE FISHING
7/8/2021 9:18:00 AM | General, Track & Field
After 36 Years of Coaching, Harbour Returning to His South Texas Roots
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Todd Harbour has never been big on long good-byes or even one last farewell lap around the track.
"That's just not who I am," said Harbour, who announced his retirement last week after 21 ½ years at Baylor overall, including the last 16 as head coach of the men's and women's track & field teams.
"I've been blessed beyond blessed to have been at Baylor as long as I have in my coaching career. I'm at total peace with it. (My wife) Cindy's been here with me for 41 years in Central Texas, and it's time to get us two folks back down to South Texas."
Returning to his roots in Port Isabel, Texas, where the couple have a vacation home they've rented out, Harbour plans on doing some fishing, "maybe some ministry," and hasn't completely closed the door on coaching again.
"I'm just going to do a lot of praying and see what the Lord has," said Harbour, who started his coaching career in 1985 at Riesel Junior High. "I know I'll probably get bored down there, so maybe I could go back and coach a little bit in high school. That's just the purest level, seeing young people improve and get a big smile on their face when they do something neat."
A five-time All-American at Baylor who was the NCAA Outdoor runner-up three times in the 1,500 meters, Harbour still ranks as the fastest collegiate athlete ever in the mile run (3:50.34). Inducted into the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992, his eight individual conference titles are the most in program history.
The silver medalist in the 1,500 at the 1979 Pan Am Games, Harbour ran professionally after graduating from Baylor in 1981. But, when his pro contract ran out after not making the USA Olympic team in '84, "I needed to start working," he said.
"I thought for a while there that I was going to maybe go into some type of ministry," he said. "In the early '80s, I was running and did a lot of speaking, and I thought that was the direction the Lord was going to take me. But, when my (Nike) contract ran out in December, I had my teaching certificate and started subbing. I was married and already had two children, so I said, 'OK, I need to get a job.' That's when the coaching job opened up in Riesel."
Harbour built one of the top high school track and cross country programs in the state at Riesel, winning nine district titles and three region track championships in an 11-year stretch, plus a pair of state runner-up finishes in cross country and coaching eight individual state champions.
Eventually becoming the school's athletic director and head football coach, Harbour earned Super Centex Coach of the Year honors in 1992, when he led the Indians to the Class 1A state semifinals and an 11-2-1 record.
Returning to Baylor in January 2000, Harbour was an assistant track coach under legendary Hall of Fame coach Clyde Hart and the head cross country coach.
"Coach Hart tried to get me to come back several times in the '90s. He'd always tell me, 'I think I can get you this much,''' Harbour said. "When I finally did, it was because (my son) Jonathan's a senior, I'm 40, my dad's battling lung cancer. It was just the timing of it. But, I still took a $20,000 pay cut to come back from being an AD at a little 1A, 2A school at Riesel. That was such a great place to raise a family, and we had some incredible memories out there."
Taking over the Baylor cross country programs when Steve Gulley left for the head job at Tulsa, Harbour led the women's team to seven-consecutive NCAA Championship appearances (2003-09), including four top-20 finishes.
"We had a pretty good run, but that was a learning experience for me," Harbour said, "being a cross country coach after being a football coach. Coaching ladies, coaching men's football, those are two opposite ends of the spectrum."
Another big step in Harbour's career came in June 2005, when Hart stepped down after 42 years and assumed the Director role, promoting Harbour to the head coach's position.
"I'm blessed that he entrusted me with the program," Harbour said, "but it was definitely challenging at times."
Overall, Baylor recorded 31 national top-25 finishes in his 16 years as the head coach, including 10 top-10 finishes. During that same stretch, he also coached 28 national champions (four per relay), 257 All-Americans and 214 Big 12 champions.
"Coach Harbour has been a tremendous leader for the Baylor track & field programs for the past 16 years, and we are grateful for his dedication to building upon the tradition of excellence established by his predecessor, Coach Clyde Hart," said Baylor Vice President and Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades.
"He led his program in a first-class manner, never compromised and humbly shared his faith with everyone who touched his program. We wish Todd, Cindy and their three sons all the best as we celebrate their many accomplishments and contributions to Baylor Athletics."
One of Harbour's only regrets is never winning a team national championship – "I guess the closest we got was third in 2001," he said, "one of my first years back, when we had a pretty good little group."
"We had some great runs in cross country, and I think the biggest thing is we were consistent. Hopefully, I've left it in good shape for the next coach, because it's always a challenge to follow a legend like Coach Hart, especially when he's still here."
Ranked among his top memories at Baylor are the women winning the Big 12 Indoor team title in 2017 and coaching Aaliyah Miller to the NCAA Indoor 800-meter national championship this year in a school- and meet-record time of 2:00.69.
"When you talk about great memories, the conference title was a big one," Harbour said, "because it was something that a lot of people said we couldn't do. And we were able to pull that off. That was a special group of young ladies. And then, coaching Aaliyah, that's been a lot of fun, just watching her get her first national title."
Arguably, though, one of the program's biggest moments was moving from the off-campus track facility to the sparkling-new Clyde Hart Track & Field Stadium in 2015. Opened in Harbour's 10th year as the head coach, the $18.1 million facility features seating for 5,000 spectators, a state-of-the-art track, outstanding venues for field events and some of the best training facilities in the country.
"Getting the track built and getting it moved to campus was a big deal," Harbour said. "That's one of the nicest facilities in the country, right there on the river. I think it gives you a great opportunity to recruit and know that they're going to be taken care of in one of the top training rooms in the country. Thankfully, our donors stepped up in a big way and made that happen. But, that's something that I think I had a small part in."
Harbour is also proud of the coaching staff that he assembled with Baylor grads Michael Ford, Stacey Smith, Jon Capron and Brandon Richards, along with Jeff Chakouian and Benjamin Richard Dalton, and a loyal support staff that includes Evan Iluzada, Will Glasscock and longtime trainer Kevin Robinson.
Ford, Smith, Richards and Dalton have all coached national champions, and "Jeff Chakouian is going to have an incredible throws culture here," Harbour said. "He's signed two of the top young shot putters in the country this year."
Looking back on 36 years of coaching, Harbour said it's been filled with some incredible memories, but "it's a blur, too, because you just go so hard, so long and so fast."
"Cindy would tell you the same thing. You just live from one season to the next. Even as a football coach at a small town like Riesel, I'm coaching basketball, I'm coaching track. You coach year-around. Early on, I was involved in the summer track program with Bill Adams. You maybe take a little break at Christmas. It's amazing how fast it's gone by."
Baylor Bear Insider
Todd Harbour has never been big on long good-byes or even one last farewell lap around the track.
"That's just not who I am," said Harbour, who announced his retirement last week after 21 ½ years at Baylor overall, including the last 16 as head coach of the men's and women's track & field teams.
"I've been blessed beyond blessed to have been at Baylor as long as I have in my coaching career. I'm at total peace with it. (My wife) Cindy's been here with me for 41 years in Central Texas, and it's time to get us two folks back down to South Texas."
Returning to his roots in Port Isabel, Texas, where the couple have a vacation home they've rented out, Harbour plans on doing some fishing, "maybe some ministry," and hasn't completely closed the door on coaching again.
"I'm just going to do a lot of praying and see what the Lord has," said Harbour, who started his coaching career in 1985 at Riesel Junior High. "I know I'll probably get bored down there, so maybe I could go back and coach a little bit in high school. That's just the purest level, seeing young people improve and get a big smile on their face when they do something neat."
A five-time All-American at Baylor who was the NCAA Outdoor runner-up three times in the 1,500 meters, Harbour still ranks as the fastest collegiate athlete ever in the mile run (3:50.34). Inducted into the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992, his eight individual conference titles are the most in program history.
The silver medalist in the 1,500 at the 1979 Pan Am Games, Harbour ran professionally after graduating from Baylor in 1981. But, when his pro contract ran out after not making the USA Olympic team in '84, "I needed to start working," he said.
"I thought for a while there that I was going to maybe go into some type of ministry," he said. "In the early '80s, I was running and did a lot of speaking, and I thought that was the direction the Lord was going to take me. But, when my (Nike) contract ran out in December, I had my teaching certificate and started subbing. I was married and already had two children, so I said, 'OK, I need to get a job.' That's when the coaching job opened up in Riesel."
Harbour built one of the top high school track and cross country programs in the state at Riesel, winning nine district titles and three region track championships in an 11-year stretch, plus a pair of state runner-up finishes in cross country and coaching eight individual state champions.
Eventually becoming the school's athletic director and head football coach, Harbour earned Super Centex Coach of the Year honors in 1992, when he led the Indians to the Class 1A state semifinals and an 11-2-1 record.
Returning to Baylor in January 2000, Harbour was an assistant track coach under legendary Hall of Fame coach Clyde Hart and the head cross country coach.
"Coach Hart tried to get me to come back several times in the '90s. He'd always tell me, 'I think I can get you this much,''' Harbour said. "When I finally did, it was because (my son) Jonathan's a senior, I'm 40, my dad's battling lung cancer. It was just the timing of it. But, I still took a $20,000 pay cut to come back from being an AD at a little 1A, 2A school at Riesel. That was such a great place to raise a family, and we had some incredible memories out there."
Taking over the Baylor cross country programs when Steve Gulley left for the head job at Tulsa, Harbour led the women's team to seven-consecutive NCAA Championship appearances (2003-09), including four top-20 finishes.
"We had a pretty good run, but that was a learning experience for me," Harbour said, "being a cross country coach after being a football coach. Coaching ladies, coaching men's football, those are two opposite ends of the spectrum."
Another big step in Harbour's career came in June 2005, when Hart stepped down after 42 years and assumed the Director role, promoting Harbour to the head coach's position.
"I'm blessed that he entrusted me with the program," Harbour said, "but it was definitely challenging at times."
Overall, Baylor recorded 31 national top-25 finishes in his 16 years as the head coach, including 10 top-10 finishes. During that same stretch, he also coached 28 national champions (four per relay), 257 All-Americans and 214 Big 12 champions.
"Coach Harbour has been a tremendous leader for the Baylor track & field programs for the past 16 years, and we are grateful for his dedication to building upon the tradition of excellence established by his predecessor, Coach Clyde Hart," said Baylor Vice President and Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades.
"He led his program in a first-class manner, never compromised and humbly shared his faith with everyone who touched his program. We wish Todd, Cindy and their three sons all the best as we celebrate their many accomplishments and contributions to Baylor Athletics."
One of Harbour's only regrets is never winning a team national championship – "I guess the closest we got was third in 2001," he said, "one of my first years back, when we had a pretty good little group."
"We had some great runs in cross country, and I think the biggest thing is we were consistent. Hopefully, I've left it in good shape for the next coach, because it's always a challenge to follow a legend like Coach Hart, especially when he's still here."
Ranked among his top memories at Baylor are the women winning the Big 12 Indoor team title in 2017 and coaching Aaliyah Miller to the NCAA Indoor 800-meter national championship this year in a school- and meet-record time of 2:00.69.
"When you talk about great memories, the conference title was a big one," Harbour said, "because it was something that a lot of people said we couldn't do. And we were able to pull that off. That was a special group of young ladies. And then, coaching Aaliyah, that's been a lot of fun, just watching her get her first national title."
Arguably, though, one of the program's biggest moments was moving from the off-campus track facility to the sparkling-new Clyde Hart Track & Field Stadium in 2015. Opened in Harbour's 10th year as the head coach, the $18.1 million facility features seating for 5,000 spectators, a state-of-the-art track, outstanding venues for field events and some of the best training facilities in the country.
"Getting the track built and getting it moved to campus was a big deal," Harbour said. "That's one of the nicest facilities in the country, right there on the river. I think it gives you a great opportunity to recruit and know that they're going to be taken care of in one of the top training rooms in the country. Thankfully, our donors stepped up in a big way and made that happen. But, that's something that I think I had a small part in."
Harbour is also proud of the coaching staff that he assembled with Baylor grads Michael Ford, Stacey Smith, Jon Capron and Brandon Richards, along with Jeff Chakouian and Benjamin Richard Dalton, and a loyal support staff that includes Evan Iluzada, Will Glasscock and longtime trainer Kevin Robinson.
Ford, Smith, Richards and Dalton have all coached national champions, and "Jeff Chakouian is going to have an incredible throws culture here," Harbour said. "He's signed two of the top young shot putters in the country this year."
Looking back on 36 years of coaching, Harbour said it's been filled with some incredible memories, but "it's a blur, too, because you just go so hard, so long and so fast."
"Cindy would tell you the same thing. You just live from one season to the next. Even as a football coach at a small town like Riesel, I'm coaching basketball, I'm coaching track. You coach year-around. Early on, I was involved in the summer track program with Bill Adams. You maybe take a little break at Christmas. It's amazing how fast it's gone by."
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