Legendary track coach Pat Henry announces retirement

Click here to view Pat Henry’s retirement press conference.

How do you bid a fond farewell to the greatest of all time?

That’s a question Texas A&M track and field is asking as Pat Henry is calling it a career...and what a career it has been.

On Wednesday, the 74-year-old legend officially announced his retirement.

“As of today, June 17, I will retire as the head track and field coach here at Texas A&M,” Henry told TexAgs before a Wednesday press conference. “I want to thank you for your support. In my 22 years here at Texas A&M, we have been blessed. We have won 10 national championships and an additional 19 top-four finishes. I have had great staffs, who have been dedicated to our athletes’ success in and out of the classroom. I want to thank Trev Alberts and his staff for their care and support of our program.”

Aggies should be the ones doing the thanking...

Henry finished the 2026 season with the Aggies just last week before officially stepping away from the sport as one of its all-time greats.

Last summer, the Albuquerque kid won his 37th team national championship as the Aggie men shared the outdoor crown with USC. For Henry, it was his 10th national title at the helm in Aggieland.

The list of championships is simply staggering:

• Men’s Indoor: 2001, 2004, 2017
• Men’s Outdoor: 1989, 1990, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2025
• Women’s Indoor: 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004
• Women’s Outdoor: 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014

And that doesn’t include Henry’s NJCAA triumphs (2) at Blinn College or his conference championships (35).

When it comes to winning NCAA championships in team sports at any level, only two individuals have summited the mountaintop more. Kenyon College swimming and diving coach Jim Steen holds the all-time record with 50 Division III titles, while Arkansas’ John McDonnell collected 40 between cross country and track.

Henry arrived in Aggieland in the fall of 2004 after a highly successful stint at Louisiana State, where he brought 27 championships to Baton Rouge.

However, that success continued in Maroon & White, and in 2025, Henry became the first coach in any NCAA sport to win 10 or more national titles at two different institutions.

A seven-time NCAA Coach of the Year, Henry is a member of both the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. In short order, he’ll add “Texas A&M Hall of Famer” to his incomparable CV.

Since Henry took the reins, A&M has sent an Aggie to every Olympiad since 2004 and has produced 30 Olympians who have combined to win eight medals (four gold, two silver and two bronze) on the world’s biggest and brightest stage. Dating back to his tenure at LSU, Henry produced 67 total Olympians who won seven gold medals.

A pioneer and a builder, Henry spearheaded the development of some of the nation’s premier facilities in College Station. The Gilliam Indoor Track hosted the 2009 and 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships until it was replaced by the Fasken Indoor Track & Field in 2004. Additionally, the program’s primary facility — E.B. Cushing Stadium — opened in 2019 and has served as a program-changer, allowing the Aggies to actually host track meets, including the 2021 SEC Championships and multiple NCAA regionals.

Henry’s mark on Texas A&M Athletics is indisputable and indelible, and this article certainly doesn’t do it justice.

How should Aggies say farewell to someone as great as Pat Henry? Easy.

“Thank you.”