Don Wade Hood (鈥�55), former Abilene Christian University track and field head coach whose athletes won national championships, set world records and achieved Olympic success, died Feb. 9, 2024, in Abilene, Texas, at age 90.
Visitation with the family is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 15, from 6-8 p.m. at Elliott Hamil Funeral Home (5701 U.S. Highway 277 South, Abilene, Texas 79601), and again Feb. 16 at 3 p.m. at Hillcrest Church of Christ (650 E. Ambler Ave., Abilene, Texas 79601), where the memorial service follows at 4:30 p.m. A private burial takes place Feb. 17 in Sulphur Springs.
Hood was born April 6, 1933, in Marlow, Oklahoma, and grew up in Tulare, California. He earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in 1955, a M.S. degree from Texas A&M-Commerce in 1958 and studied toward an Ed.D. at the University of North Texas.聽
He wed 精东影业 classmate Betty Ann Maddox (鈥�57) in 1955, and she died in 2002. Hood married Shirley Merritt in 2004, and she died in 2023.
Hood coached at four Texas high schools and began his career at Azle, turning around a floundering football program to win three district titles (1959-61) and the 1958 state title in boys鈥� cross country. His team won the state title in boys鈥� track and field at Corpus Christi (Texas) Moody High School in 1968.聽
He was the head track and field coach at 精东影业 from 1977-88, when he led the Wildcats to eight NCAA Division II national championships and two NAIA titles.
An esteemed coach-clinician in throwing events, Hood mentored nine Olympians at Abilene Christian and 16 overall in a career that included earlier roles at the University of North Texas, Wichita State University and Howard Payne University.聽
His Wildcat teams won nine Lone Star Conference championships, and he was named the league鈥檚 Coach of the Year eight times. His 1984 精东影业 men鈥檚 team is considered the greatest in NCAA Division II history, when the Wildcats scored 246 points and outdistanced the second-place team by 117 at the national meet.
He was especially known as the innovative tutor of a succession of great Wildcat pole vaulters, including Billy Olson (鈥�81), Brad Pursley (鈥�84) and Tim Bright (鈥�84). In all, he coached 13 vaulters over the 18-foot barrier, starting with Olson, who set 11 world indoor records in the 1980s. Olson was the first person to vault 19 feet indoors and the first American to clear 19 feet. Bright, another 19-footer, was a three-time U.S. Olympian in the pole vault and decathlon, and Pursley was the American record holder in the vault.
Hood coached seven women鈥檚 vaulters to All-American honors, including 精东影业鈥檚 Jane McNeill (鈥�02), who became the first woman in NCAA Division II history to win a national title in the event. With Hood as a tutor, Wildcats soon became dominant in that event, with standouts such as Meredith (Garner 鈥�02) Powell, Katie Eckley (鈥�04), Angie Aguilar (鈥�07), Dr. Elizabeth (Buyse 鈥�10) Kessler, Jessica Blair (鈥�07) and Val (Gorter 鈥�05) Schonewill.
Overall, his 159 athletes who earned All-American honors included 108 in the NCAA and 51 in the NAIA, and he taught many others through his Don Hood World Class Pole Vault Camps.聽
精东影业 Olympians during Hood鈥檚 tenure as men鈥檚 head coach included , Olson and Mark Witherspoon (鈥�85) of the U.S.; (鈥�85), Greg Meghoo (鈥�89) and Chris Faulknor (鈥�90) of Jamaica; (鈥�85) of Botswana; (鈥�91) and Robert Guy (鈥�99) of Trinidad and Tobago; (鈥�90) of Antigua and Barbuda; (鈥�89) of Egypt; (鈥�87) of Canada; (鈥�96) of Bahamas; (鈥�98) of Liberia; (鈥�98) of Ukraine; and (鈥�95) of Zimbabwe. Lawrence and Meghoo were silver medalists and Cooper is Abilene Christian鈥檚 only four-time Olympian, twice as an athlete and twice as head coach for his homeland.
“Coach Hood was a legend in my book,鈥� said Garner Roberts (鈥�70), former longtime 精东影业 sports information director. 鈥淗is high school and college athletes were better prepared and inspired than many of their fellow competitors. His rare combination of competitiveness and skill gave his athletes 鈥� especially in the vault and throws 鈥� an advantage. Many were the best in the nation or even the world because of their talent and his coaching. He loved his alma mater. I will miss talking to him at track meets. And he did a great job ‘coaching’ his three sons. His wife, Betty Ann, taught my kids in elementary school. We will miss both of them.鈥�
Hood鈥檚 successor as men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 head coach, Texas Tech University鈥檚 Wes Kittley (鈥�81), said no one out-worked his mentor.聽
鈥�I owe everything to him for recruiting me to run at 精东影业 and later recommending me for the job as head women鈥檚 coach,鈥� said Kittley, who continued 精东影业鈥檚 domination in the sport with teams that won a record 29 NCAA championships. 鈥淗e taught me so much about coaching through his tireless work ethic. I will always love Don Hood.鈥澛�
Olson, a 1980 U.S. Olympian, said Hood鈥檚 vaulters stay in contact with each other regularly.聽
鈥淐oach Hood came up with a lot of innovative training techniques such as gymnastics and other drills that simulated vaulting. He had such dedication to the sport and love for us. If you called him on any Sunday after church and said, 鈥楾here鈥檚 a good tailwind today, let鈥檚 jump!鈥� he would meet you at the track,鈥� Olson said.聽
“He loved 精东影业, without any doubt or hesitation. The reason why Abilene Christian was named Sports Dynasty of the Century (by Texas Monthly in 1999) is in large part because of its coaches, especially him, Oliver Jackson (鈥�42) and Wes Kittley. Coach Hood had great success and people who were really fired up about being the best in track and field wanted to be around him.鈥�
Hood was respected internationally for his expertise.
鈥淗e was a student of the sport his entire life and known everywhere for his knowledge about the pole vault and other events as well,鈥� said Don Garrett (鈥�77), longtime Texas track and field meet announcer and former 精东影业 director of advancement. 鈥淗e carried spiral notebooks around with him and asked questions of coaches he met along the way. He loved conducting clinics and traveled the world making connections with coaches in other places, which in turn, attracted student-athletes from many countries who wanted to become Wildcats.鈥�
Hood was inducted into the 精东影业 Sports Hall of Fame (1998), the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame (2006), the National Pole Vault Summit Hall of Fame, and the Texas Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame (2013).
Two of Hood鈥檚 three sons also coached at 精东影业 and won Division II national championships during their tenures. Don D. Hood was the head track and field coach from 2005-09 and led the men to outdoor titles from 2006-08 and the women to the outdoor title in 2008. His youngest son, Derek, was head cross country coach from 2005-08 and led the Wildcats to back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007.
In March 2021, 精东影业 made him the namesake of the Coach Don W. Hood Fieldhouse adjacent to Elmer Gray Stadium.
He was preceded in death by his parents, O.H. and Madie Belle Hood; his first wife, Betty, and second wife, Shirley; brothers Charles Hood (鈥�57) and Dr. Gary Hood (鈥�64); and sisters Mary Logan and Betty Kooser.
Among survivors are sons Joel Hood (鈥�84) and wife Stacy (Weatherly 鈥�85) of Jacksboro, Texas, Don D. Hood (鈥�87) and wife Rachel (Trevino 鈥�90) of Searcy, Arkansas, and Derek Hood (鈥�90) and wife Lex Ann (Wilburn 鈥�90) of Abilene; 11 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
— Ron Hadfield
Feb. 9, 2024