Hall of Fame
For well over 50 years, Jack “Cy” McClairen was been a staple of the Bethune-Cookman University Department of Athletics. While serving in several areas of B-CU Athletics, McClairen has spent time as football coach, basketball coach, and athletic director, all while being associated with Wildcats athletics for over a half-decade.
McClairen, the Senior Associate Athletic Director for Bethune-Cookman, was simply known to the Wildcats Family as “Coach Cy”.
McClairen earned 12 varsity letters from Bethune-Cookman College during his playing days, picking up letters in football, basketball and track & field. He was the first B-CU football player ever to be drafted in the professional ranks of football. After a two-year tour of duty in the United States Army, McClairen began a successful NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was named to the NFL All-Pro team in 1958.
In 1961, he returned to his alma mater and became the winningest basketball coach in school history. McClairen also coached football and golf at Bethune-Cookman and served as the Director of Athletics from 1961 to 1972. Since that time, he has served in several areas of athletics, including assistant golf coach for the men’s and women’s teams under the late Dr. Gary Freeman.
During his storied coaching career with the Maroon and Gold, McClairen coached in over 900 football and basketball games. McClairen earned MEAC Coach of the Year accolades in basketball (1989) and in football (1994). He is also the winningest men's basketball coach in Bethune-Cookman history, having amassed a record of 397–427 in 31 total seasons.
In 1988, he was inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame.
More recently, McClairen was inducted into the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Hall of Fame in 2008, as well as the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAC) Hall of Fame. In 2000, he was one of 20 members inducted into the Bethune-Cookman Athletic Hall of Fame, joined by the likes of John Chaney and Larry Little.
Coach Cy went to Glory December 2020.
