Clyde Morgan, Assistant Director of MXIBS and Director of Track and Field and Cross Country
Clyde Morgan is the Assistant Director of the Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies and is in his 12th season as the Director of Track and Field and Cross Country at Wabash College. He is just the third head coach of the track and field program since World War II.
Morgan has continued the history of track and field success established by head coaches J. Owen Huntsman and Robert H. Johnson. The Little Giants, under Morgan's tutelage, have won eight NCAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships and seven NCAC Indoor Track and Field titles.
Students are drawn to Coach Morgan because of his life experiences and his tough love approach to inspiring every Little Giant to reach his maximum potential – as evidenced in this video documentary.
Under Coach Morgan’s tutelage, a total of 159 Little Giant student-athletes have won individual conference championships, 517 have received All-NCAC honors, and 21 Wabash men have been named Conference MVPs. Coach Morgan and his Wabash staff have been recognized as the NCAC Staff of the Year 14 times.
Morgan has produced 68 NCAA Division III national qualifiers with 38 All-Americans, three national champions, and two national second-place finishers at Wabash. Morgan’s student-athletes have been recognized for their work in the classroom, as well, with 44 earning Academic All-America and Scholar Athlete honors.
Morgan is a graduate of Thiel College in Greenville, Pennsylvania, where he was a national qualifier in track and an all-conference safety in football. He served as Thiel’s head track and field coach prior to coming to Wabash.
Morgan is a member of the USA Track and Field Coaches' Committee and is the chairp of the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame Committee. Morgan holds honorary memberships with Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, the Wabash College Sphinx Club, and the Malcolm X Institute of Black Studies.
Morgan’s wife, Jennifer, is the Senior Administrative Assistant to the Dean for Professional Development and Director of the MXIBS. Coach Morgan has two sons, Braylen and Ziair, and daughter, Ziah.
You have been enormously successful as track and field coach at Wabash – 15 NCAC Championships, three national champions, and multiple Coach of the Year awards. What keeps you here? Why have you stayed at Wabash?
What keeps me here are the students and student-athletes, and the support from the administration. The ability and support to continue to grow as a man, coach, and mentor is extremely important to me, and Wabash continues to play a big part in that.
We like to say to prospective students that “Wabash will change your life.” How has coaching here for so many years changed your life?
I’ve spent most of my young professional life here. It’s enhanced my life by connecting me to so many loyal and good-hearted people who are not afraid to change.
What are your fondest memories from your career at Wabash?
One of my fondest memories here is the Unity Walk that was put on by one of my athletes and MXI members, Leo Warbington in the fall of 2021. Another would be winning the college’s first NCAC Championships in Cross Country, Indoor Track, and Outdoor Track in 2011. Last, but not least, my favorite moments are pushing young men to accomplish things they never thought they could do.
What advice would you give a young man considering Wabash?
We want young men who are not afraid of adversity or diversity. We take great pride in developing young men and teaching them how to handle success and how to navigate through tough life storms.
What do you say to a prospective student who says Wabash is too small, too rural, and too white?
I challenge them to give us one visit so they can see for themselves how special this place is. I challenge them to be different and to grow.
What advice would you give the parents of a young man considering Wabash?
I would tell them to pop in on us and you will see we do what we say we’re going to do, and we are who we say we are.
What role do you play with the MXIBS?
The same role I play as a Coach. I challenge, develop, and coach young men through life.
You have been a part of the MXIBS leadership for a long time. Why should a young man become a member of the Institute?
If they buy in, they will truly learn how to lead effectively during tough times. Everyone can lead in the light, but we teach young men to also lead through the darkness. Learning how to lead when you are uncomfortable is the type of young man we want to put out into the world.