Top five finishes in each of the last two years were not enough for Wayne Norton to keep his job as Georgia’s track & field and cross country coach.
The Bulldogs’ veteran leader was “not retained” by UGA, according to an announcement by Athletic Director Greg McGarity sent out via email Monday evening. Norton, 55, was not quoted in the release and did not return calls and messages seeking comment.
“We appreciate Wayne’s efforts both as an assistant coach and as a head coach at Georgia over the last 25 years,” McGarity stated in the release. “We wish him the best of luck with all of his future plans.”
Reached via telephone later, McGarity declined to elaborate on the reasons behind his decision.
“The release stands on its own,” he said. “Wayne always represented UGA in a first-class manner. I have great respect for the way he ran our program.”
For the last 16 years, Norton served as head coach of both the men’s and women’s teams at Georgia. He succeeded John Mitchell, for whom he had served as an assistant coach since 1990.
Sources close to the program have assured that there were no scandals or violations of rules that precipitated Monday's action. The subject of a profile in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution this past spring, Norton indicated he did not intend to coach late into his life.
“I won’t be one of those 68-year-old guys still here,” said Norton, a devout Christian, father of four and part-time foster parent. “I’m going to be doing some kind of ministry work. That’s where I will be. Now I don’t know if that will be two years, four years, six years, but that’s really where I’ll be.”
Georgia track achieved great heights during Norton’s tenure. The Lady Bulldogs won the 2006 Southeastern Conference indoor and outdoor team titles and Norton’s teams posted 29 top-20 national team finishes.This past season the women finished fifth at the outdoor championships for a second consecutive year and were third in the national indoors last year. The men slipped to 15th his year after coming in seventh a year ago.
But Georgia’s success was coming without getting much of a contribution in track events. While the Bulldogs have produced several national champions in field and throws the past few years, it has gotten very little out of their once heralded sprints squads.
That's unusual considering the state of Georgia traditionally produces some of the greatest sprinters in the country. Just last week, rising junior Candace Hill of Rockdale County was named the Gatorade national high school track athlete of the year. She became the first high school girl to break the 11-second barrier in the 100-meter dash (10.98), which makes her the world's fastest junior (under age 20) in the event and she ranked No. 10 worldwide among women of all ages at the time of her selection.
McGarity anticipated a new coach would be appointed quickly. He said nationally-renowned assistants such as Don Babbit (throws) and associate head coach Petros Kyprianou (multis, jumps) would be considered as successors.
Norton, a New Jersey native, competed for the Howard University track and field team from 1978-81 and received his Bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Production from Howard in 1981. He went on to earn a Master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Indiana and was a graduate assistant with the Hoosiers. After an assistant coaching stop with Northern Arizona from 1985-89, Norton joined UGA’s program in 1990.
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