BATON ROUGE, La. -- Former Abilene Christian University head track coach Bill McClure passed away at his home Saturday night after a long illness. He was 86.
McClure's funeral service will be Tuesday at 11 a.m. at the Goodwood Church of Christ in Baton Rouge. The body will then be transferred to Abilene for another visitation and service on Thursday (May 29) at 11 a.m. at Elmwood Memorial Park and Cemetery on Highway 277. Burial will follow the service in Elmwood Memorial Park.
McClure's death follows just five months after the passing of former Wildcat track and field coach Oliver Jackson, who preceded McClure as the ACU head coach.
McClure amassed a sterling coaching record at ACU, South Carolina and Louisiana State during a head coaching career that began with the Wildcats in 1963. McClure also served as an assistant track and field coach for the United States Olympic Team at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, which were plagued by a terrorist attack that led to the death of 11 Israeli athletes. During his ACU career, McClure coaches 42 athletes who won all-America honors a total of 63 times.
During his 47-year career in athletics, McClure coached a total of 145 United States Track and Field Federation (USTFF) and NCAA all-America athletes, and achieved the unusual feat of mentoring all-America athletes in every event on the track and field schedule.
At ACU he coached 1964 U.S. Olympic pole vaulter Billy Pemelton. In eight years as the Wildcats' head coach, his teams won seven titles each in track and cross country in the Southland Conference. After leaving ACU he went on to become the head track coach at both South Carolina and LSU before finishing his career in athletics as the director of athletics at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala.
McClure was inducted into the ACU Sports Hall of Fame in 1991 and in October 2002 he was inducted into the United States Track Coaches' Hall of Fame.
"Bill McClure was one of the great track and field coaches of his generation," said ACU director of athletics emeritus Wally Bullington, who both played for and coached with McClure at ACU. "He was an outstanding Christian gentlemen, an excellent teacher and an excellent coach in both football and track and field."
A 1939 graduate of Abilene High School, McClure received a bachelor of science degree from Abilene Christian in 1948 and a master's of education from Hardin-Simmons University in 1951 after serving in the United States Marine Corps in the South Pacific during World War II. He was a captain and four-year football letterman for the Wildcats.
He coached at Stamford High School in 1948-49 before joining the ACU coaching staff in September 1949. He was the backfield coach on the 1950 ACU football team that posted the nation's only unblemished record that season (11-0), capping the campaign with a win over Gustavus-Adolphus in the Refrigerator Bowl. He was also assistant track and field coach under Jackson for 13 years before being named head coach at ACU in November 1963.
Teams and individual athletes that McClure was associated with have held world records in the 100-yard dash, the 220-yard dash, the 440-yard relay (twice), the 880-yard relay (twice), the mile relay, and the pole vault (indoors). While at Abilene Christian, his teams won 22 major titles at the Texas, Kansas, Drake, Modesto and Penn relays.
McClure moved to South Carolina in 1972, where he led the Gamecocks to a third-place finish at the 1974 NCAA indoor championship meet, and he was voted NCAA Region III Coach of the Year. His two mile relay team of Mike Sheley, Jim Schaper, and brothers John and Don Brown won the indoor championship, and Schaper finished second in the 880. McClure is also credited with beginning the women's track and field program at USC.
From 1976-1981, McClure coached 34 NCAA all-America athletes at LSU and began the women's track and field program. During his tenure, the Tigers produced several Southeastern Conference individual champions. His 1979 men's team placed second in the SEC indoor championships, fifth in the NCAA outdoor championships, and won the NCAA men's 4x400 relay as Greg Hill edged out the University of Texas anchorman in a photo finish on the Longhorns' home track at Memorial Stadium. Coach McClure served from 1981 until 1986 as LSU Assistant Athletic Director in charge of facilities.
In 1986 he returned to coaching at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., where he was also Associate Athletic Director until his retirement in 1996. While at Samford, his teams won one women's conference cross country championship, finished second twice in the Trans-America Athletic Conference men's track and field championships, and produced seven academic all-America athletes.
McClure was an influential figure in national track and field circles for many years. He served as chairman and secretary of the NCAA Men's and Women's Track and Field Rules Committee, and was President of the U.S. Track and Field Federation. He was also president of the Southern Association of The Athletics Congress, a member of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Committee, a member of the NCAA indoor championship games committee for many years, and served as a consultant for the U.S. State Department on goodwill trips to Mexico and Africa.
McClure was preceded in death by his parents, Omer Dee Sr., and Bertha Esther, and brothers Omer Dee Jr. of Dallas and Russell of Abilene. His wife, Ramona Louise, of Tyler, passed away in December 1989 and is buried in Abilene. He is survived by two daughters, Karen Bearden of Barnwell, S.C., and Terry McClure of Baton Rouge; three sons, Mike, Mitch, and Tim, all of Baton Rouge; and three grandchildren, Stephanie Bearden Mead, Sabrina Bearden, and Kyle Bearden, all of Barnwell, S.C.
The family has asked that in lieu of flowers that his friends and family honor McClure with a donation in his name to the ACU, South Carolina, LSU or Samford track and field programs. If you would like to donate to Samford University, designate the donation to the Mrs. Coach Scholarship Fund.
