EUGENE, Ore. -- It was a shock when Clyde Hart announced five months ago he would no longer be coaching Jeremy Wariner because they couldn't agree on contract terms.
Since 2004, Hart had coached Wariner to an Olympic gold medal, two world titles and an NCAA title for Baylor in the 400 meters. He also coached Michael Johnson -- now Wariner's agent -- to world records at 200 and 400 meters that still stand, as well as an unprecedented Olympic gold double in those events.
And Hart and Wariner were splitting just as Wariner tried to match Johnson's feat of consecutive Olympic medals in the quarter-mile?
Hart says it was an issue of compensation.
Penny-wise and pound-foolish?
When Wariner, 24, was asked in a Saturday news conference whether it might not have been shortsighted to save a few dollars in the Olympic year, the runner gave a dismissive head wag even before his questioner had finished.
"I didn't do it to save a few dollars, to start off with," Warner said. "I did it because I felt like it was the time for a change."
Hart had another view in a telephone interview Monday.
The coach said when Wariner gave him the contract, the runner told Hart that "he wanted me to be his coach." But Hart said the contract terms would have reduced his pay by 50% on both the base and performance-bonus levels.
Wariner's annual income reportedly has topped seven figures the last few years.
"He [Wariner] informed me that it was a business decision, that he needed to take home more money after he paid his taxes, his agent and me," Hart said. "He has to pay his taxes, and he has a long-term deal with his agent, but our deal had always been done on an annual basis."
Hart, 74, who retired as Baylor's head coach in 2005, said Wariner gave him a month to make a choice. The coach said he spoke twice with Wariner's lawyer before turning down the new deal in less than a week.
That Wariner says the primary issue was change seems more than a little disingenuous, given how he described the training regime with his new coach, Michael Ford, who had been an assistant to Hart at Baylor.
"Coach Ford has the same philosophy as coach Hart," Wariner said. "My workouts are exactly the same. Nothing has changed. The only thing changed is my coach."
Another journalist asked why Wariner thought it was a good time to change coaches.
