Is it just me of is this the worst timing possible. No one can really know the whole story but from where I stand humbly , One way or the other, no amount of money is worth possibly losing an Olympic Gold Medal and no amount of money can buy an Olympic Gold Medal either.
Where will Jeremy Wariner find the piece of mind to concentrate with a familiar setting and coach when now everything is turned upside down?? I would have waited to change my world famous coach and all the talk that will go with his decesion until after the Gold was in my hot little hands.
Well ,That’s just me….I guess this will be another “Big” story this summer to take away from the real stories of the hard work our athletes have had to put in to get to China .
Track Mom
Wariner, Hart Sever Partnership
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
By Brice Cherry
Tribune-Herald staff writer
The successful partnership between Jeremy Wariner and Clyde Hart has reached its finish line.
Hart confirmed Tuesday that because of a contract dispute he will no longer serve as the personal coach for Wariner, the defending Olympic gold medalist and world champion in the 400 meters.
The veteran Baylor track coach had been operating on a one-year contract each year that called for him to receive a percentage of Wariner’s earnings. But Hart balked after recently receiving a contract proposal that reduced that percentage.
“It was a significant cutback, and I didn’t think I could do it. Well, actually, I knew I couldn’t do it,” said Hart, who has trained Wariner since the sprinter’s freshman year at Baylor in 2003. “I don’t have a sign around my neck that says ‘Discount Coach.’ I never asked for more, I never wanted more, but each year the percentage was always consistent.
“I was just taken aback at the offer.”
Wariner, who is continuing to train in Waco at Baylor’s Hart-Patterson Track Complex – a facility named in part after Hart – did not return messages seeking comment Tuesday.
Wariner turned professional immediately after winning gold medals in the 400 and 4×400 relay at the Athens Olympics in 2004, and hired former Baylor and Olympic great Michael Johnson as his agent. Wariner also asked Hart to continue to serve as his coach, and Hart agreed to do so under a contract he crafted.
“I simply wrote up an agreement, without a lawyer or attorney,” Hart said. “I always thought it should be a one-year deal, because I’d never want to coach someone who doesn’t want me to coach them. The contract called for me to earn a percentage of Jeremy’s earnings, like an agent, though my percentage wasn’t as high as what an agent would get.
“I just thought it was the fairest thing, because if he does well, then I do well. And if he doesn’t, I don’t either.”
Hart believed that the arrangement had been mutually beneficial until receiving a new “quite lengthy” contract from Wariner’s attorney that called for a cutback in the coach’s potential earnings.
“We had been going through contract negotiations for the past couple of weeks, and we finally got to the point where we were at an impasse,” Hart said. “I made a decision I couldn’t accept the contract that was presented to me.”
Since the split with Hart, Wariner has been training under Baylor assistant Michael Ford, who also coaches Wariner’s training partner and old BU teammate Darold Williamson. Ford said Tuesday that he hasn’t yet signed a contract to coach Wariner, but that he felt compelled to offer his services despite the unusual circumstances.
“There’s nothing official on paper,” Ford said. “It just made sense for me to work with Jeremy because he and Darold have worked together for so long. Plus, I just felt an obligation to Jeremy as a Baylor guy to do what I could to help. It’s like I told Coach (Todd) Harbour, ‘How could I turn down an opportunity to coach the best 400 runner in the world?’ ”
Nevertheless, Ford admitted that the severing of the Wariner-Hart partnership has already created an odd dynamic at the Baylor track. Over the years, Wariner has often – though not always – worked out at the same time as the Baylor track team, which Hart continues to help with in his role as Baylor’s director of track and field.
Asked if his coaching Wariner has generated any friction between himself and Hart, Ford said, “A little. I’ve sensed maybe a little. I mean, I hope not. I definitely still have my loyalty to Coach Hart, especially working here at Baylor, but I sense an obligation to Jeremy as well. I really feel like this is a business decision between Coach Hart and Jeremy, and I’m just kind of caught in the middle.”
For his part, Hart said that he’s not “mad at anyone,” including Wariner. The coach will continue to train Sanya Richards, the former University of Texas star who has been the world’s top-ranked women’s 400 runner the past three years.
But Hart also admits to being “disappointed” that he won’t be there to assist Wariner in the sprinter’s quest to repeat as Olympic champion later this year in Beijing.
“I’m not mad at Jeremy, not at all,” Hart said. “I just cannot understand where he was coming from (with the contract offer). It caught me by surprise.
“But he’s a great athlete, and I’ve enjoyed these five years working with him. I regret I won’t be there for the final part of the race, because I think he’s destined for great things.”
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