When Clyde Morgan thinks of Wabash College, one phrase comes to mind "Commitment to helping young men."
Morgan accepted the track and field head coaching position vacated by longtime coach Rob Johnson in March and started his new position July 1. Morgan quickly figured out Wabash was full of friendly, professional people and he gets the feeling that everyone is on the same team.
Morgan, who was a head coach at Thiel College since January 2004, recently moved from Greenville, Pennsylvania to Crawfordsville along with wife Jennifer and sons Braylen, 12, and Ziair, 4. Morgan first stepped into his office at the Allen Athletic Center July 1. Two days later, he was on the recruiting trail for next year and beyond.
"Recruiting is my passion, I just love it," said Morgan, 32. "I just started getting a hold of all my connections just to make sure they knew where I was, because I had been at Thiel for so long and I just gave a brief description of the type of young men I was looking for."
Either as a student or a coach, Morgan had been at Thiel since 1996. Morgan was a 2000 graduate of Thiel and played both football and track and field at the Greenville, Pennsylvania college. He was a track team captain in 1997, 1998 and 1999 and was a NCAA provisional qualifier in the 400-meter hurdles in 1996.
Upon graduation, Morgan was offered a position in Thiel’s student services department where he would also serve as an assistant football and track coach. After three years as Thiel’s track assistant, Morgan was named the head coach in 2004.
During his time at Thiel’s helm, Morgan led the Tomcats to the 2004 Presidents’ Athletic Conference title. In 2008, his men’s team took eighth at the indoor nationals, its highest finish in NCAA competition.
While at Thiel as an assistant or head coach, Morgan received many different coaching offers from Division 1A all the way down to Division III schools. None of those offers, however, jumped out to Morgan.
Then Wabash came along. Johnson, who had led the Little Giant program since 1972, had announced before the season started that 2008 would be his final season at the Little Giant helm. Morgan talked to his coaching mentor, Bill Ross, about the Wabash opening. Ross was Morgan’s former coach at Thiel who now is the head coach at Allegheny, which is in the North Coast Athletic Conference along with Wabash.
He also talked with George Williams, who has led Saint Augustine’s College to 30 Division II National Championships, and the head football coach at Thiel about the Wabash opening. All the people he asked talked highly of Wabash.
Jennifer Morgan has family in Champaign and Decatur, Ill., so she was excited about the possibility of getting closer to them.
"My wife was shocked at first because I was not looking," Morgan said. "I had been at Thiel for so long and had been successful, and the next thing you know I’m on a plane going to an interview. But as I did more research into it, my wife became more excited and my boys got excited."
Morgan, who also will assist Roger Busch with the cross country program, plans on keeping the same assistants Wabash had last season and said Wabash will probably get a football/track intern to help out. He specializes in the sprints, hurdles, jumps and relays aspect of track and field.
Morgan already has received plenty of help around campus, especially from Johnson.
"He has been a father figure to me and has been unbelievable," Morgan said. "He has helped me with everything from recruiting to personal and has made me feel comfortable. From the minute I walked in here, he has been first class."
Since stepping in the office, Morgan has been looking for future athletes.
From his coaching at Thiel, Morgan developed a pipeline of contacts from schools in Jamaica and Arizona to Pennsylvania and Ohio. When the fall rolls around, he will start going to high schools and talking face to face with student- athletes.
"I’m looking for great students who have great character and someone who has a passion for track and field," Morgan said. "I’m just excited to get started and get going recruiting full steam ahead."
Clyde won’t be the only member of his family coaching around Montgomery County next season. His wife, who is a former assistant basketball coach at Thiel, will assist Darren Haas’ Crawfordsville girls basketball team next winter.
Matt Wilson is the sports editor for The Journal Review.
Photos - (top left) Clyde Morgan prepares to hit the recruiting trail.
(Bottom right) Retired coach Rob Johnson, new track and field coach Clyde Morgan, and cross country coach Roger Busch.