Bubba Thornton


Bubba Thornton is a retired track and field coach. He coached Texas Christian University from 1982 to 1995 and served as the Texas Longhorns men's track and field coach at the University of Texas at Austin from 1996 to 2013. He is also the former head coach for the USA Track & Field team for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
Thornton graduated from TCU in 1969 with a bachelor's degree in physical education. He participated in varsity football and track and field. After graduating, he was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the 14th round of the 1969 American Football League draft and started as a rookie wide receiver. He began his coaching career at Keller High School where he served as the athletics director and head football coach from 1977 to 1981.
In 1982, he became head coach of track and field at TCU where he coached 72 NCAA All-Americans and his men's team had five NCAA Top 10 finishes and 11 Top 20 finishes. He also coached the TCU team to 39 major relay titles, including five NCAA 400-meter relay championships and the 1983 1,600-meter relay national title.
In 1996, Thornton was hired as the head coach for the men's track and field team at Texas. In 17 seasons, his team finished in the top 15 at the NCAA Men's [Outdoor Track and Field Championship|NCAA Outdoor Championships] 13 times, including finishing in the top five four times. He coached the UT team to 19 top 10 NCAA finishes and 11 Big 12 conference titles and 1 Southwest Conference outdoor title.
Thornton also served as a coach in the following capacities:
Thornton retired in 2013. He was inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame, Class of 2015.
SchoolSeasonIndoorOutdoor
UT2013T-23rd6th
UT20127thT-9th
UT201110thT-12th
UT2010T-60thT-17th
UT200910th20th
UT20083rd4th
UT20073rd14th
UT20064th3rd
UT200570th8th
UT20044thT-23rd
UT2003T-9thT-21st
UT2002T-23rdT-9th
UT2001T-14thT-15th
UT200014th14th
UT19995thT-6th
UT1998T-24thT-47th
UT1997T-15th2nd
UT1996T-14th5th
TCU199512th
TCU199429th
TCU1993T-34th
TCU199222nd
TCU19919th
TCU198920th
TCU19888th
TCU19878th
TCU19863rd
TCU198512th
TCU198415th
TCU198310th