Coach Maurice Hutton is in Love With the Process
Coach Maurice Hutton was ready for his The St. James chapter. As Hutton put it he, “Pulled up on the owner (of The St. James) and said what about track, I am the guy”. That confidence is a defining feature of Maurice Hutton, and it is well earned. Over the course of his coaching career, winning has followed him. The massive ring on his finger that he earned at the 2025 outdoor state championship is a reminder of that.
Coming from the running obsessed island of Jamaica, track has always been a way of life for him. In his words, people in Jamaica, “eat, breathe and sleep” the sport. Instead of playing football or basketball for fun, kids in Jamaica race each other. Maurice Hutton was no different, and was an accomplished runner in his own right.
After moving to the US in his teens, Hutton continued to run. He ran at Roosevelt High school in Long Island and at Virginia State University. After Hutton, “did the corporate America thing for a little while”, track was calling his name again.
He started his journey as a high school track coach at Massaponax High School, where he had success developing athletes but could not get his team to the top of the state rankings. That success came when he moved to South County High School. Hutton won four state titles while he was there with additional runner up finishes.
However, he felt like he had hit his ceiling after a while. At public schools, the talent pool and resources are inherently limited. While Hutton won state titles, he could not compete at the national level with the IMG’s of the world. In spite of all this, Hutton deeply appreciates his time at South County High School and it prepared him to take on the opportunity at The St. James Performance Academy.
At The St. James Hutton has access to that elite talent. He has a couple of young stars at his disposal that he told me about. Hutton described star Steffon Lyon as “the best middle schooler in the history of the sport”. He is not pulling that out of thin air either. Lyon set National middle school records in the 100 and 200 meter events. Another young athlete he talked about was Rya Cooper who is breaking records of her own in the AAU 13-14 indoor 400 meter.
While there are non-negotiables for him, Maurice Hutton is always learning. For him, if you are not going forwards, you are going backwards. He was just at a local track summit attended by multiple coaches in the SEC and Big 10. Hutton goes to these events because of his constant desire to learn. He said, “If you are not going to take the time to invest in yourself, eventually you are going to be outcoached”.
Maurice Hutton is not the kind of man to allow himself to be outcoached. He also values his relationships in the industry greatly. Hutton talked about how as he continued to develop better athletes, he got access to more people at the top of the industry. Hutton loves talking with those folks, saying those people were “spoonfeeding me with information”. There is nothing Coach Hutton loves more than gaining information that could give him an edge.
Despite that competitive fire, Hutton is acutely aware of the importance of recovery. He knows he can’t push his athletes too hard, or they will break. That is why recovery is built into his plans. He also uses state of the art technology to track recovery. Hutton prides himself on making “data informed decisions”. Not data driven decisions, but data informed decisions.
Hutton does all of this because he is obsessed with making young athletes the best they can be. He loves nothing more than unlocking potential. As he put it, “Not everyone can be the best, but everyone can be the best they can be”. Coach Hutton sees his job as making his athletes the best they can be as runners and as people.
It is all about the athletes for Maurice Hutton. They are what the sport of track is all about and all he wants to do is make them the best they can be. As he eloquently put it, “You can’t expect an athlete to fit into your program, you have to build a program for the athlete”.
Q: What is your favorite moment as a coach?
A: “Seeing kids graduate college”
Q: Favorite olympic moment?
A: “Seeing Usain Bolt break the world record”
Q: Favorite olympic event?
A: 1,500 meter
Q: Favorite running shoe?
A: New Balance
Q: What advice would you give to your younger self?
A: “Pay attention and nurture all of your relationships. Be very intentional about the relationships you have and try not to burn any bridges. When people do things to disregard the work you have done, you have to learn how to manage and process that”.
Written by: Sam Sallick