Joe Henderson
Class of 2010
Joseph Henderson’s coaching résumé at Alabama A&M University reads like a record book: sixteen straight conference championships in track and field, eleven straight in cross country, three consecutive NCAA Division II outdoor national titles, an NCAA indoor championship, more than 200 All-Americans, 57 NCAA gold medal winners, and seven Olympians. Over 23 years at A&M, he was a teacher, counselor, athletic director, and the architect of the women’s varsity program.
Born July 7, 1937, in Prairieville, Alabama, Henderson excelled in sports at segregated U.S. Jones High in Demopolis, winning the state high jump as a senior. At Alabama State, he ran track, played basketball, and earned two degrees. After coaching at U.S. Jones and serving in the Army, he returned to the sidelines in Demopolis and Phenix City, producing elite teams and mentoring future Olympic champion Harvey Glance.
When he joined A&M in 1975, he was given “an old track shoe” and told to find a team. He started with just four men and one woman, Kaja Traywick, but soon built a powerhouse. As athletic director (1977–79), he added six women’s sports and expanded the men’s program by five. His women’s track program became the gold standard in the SIAC, producing Olympic medalists Jearl Miles Clark, Dannette Young Stone, and Grace Jackson Small.
Retiring from collegiate coaching in 1995 didn’t slow him. Henderson founded the Huntsville Metro Track Club to develop young athletes and runs a driver’s education school. His approach—demanding yet encouraging—turned raw potential into polished performance, and his influence reaches far beyond medals.
With wife Mildred, he raised two sons: U.S. Air Force Captain Titus Henderson and Joe Henderson. Henderson’s legacy is measured not just in championships, but in the generations of athletes whose lives were shaped by his example and belief in what they could achieve.
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