By the numbers: FPC track coach David Halliday, now a two-time Hall of Famer

Palm Coast Observer
Sports

Flagler Palm Coast track coach David Halliday, 44, became the first Flagler County coach and one of the youngest ever to be inducted into the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in the track and field division on Friday, Jan. 6, at the Ocean Center. Halliday was previous inducted into FACA’s Hall of Fame in the coaches division in 2015.

Thanks to a new Atlantic High School that was completed and opened up in 1994, Halliday began his coaching right after college, and the winning followed.

It’s not the mere “X’s and O’s” that have garnered success for Halliday, according to him. He credits his ability to create relationships with his players.

“I’ve been in three weddings of former runners of my mine,” Halliday said. “You probably can’t say that about a lot of coaches. And I will probably be in a few more weddings. That’s a relationship developed over a long period of time. I don’t have mindless soldiers, but I think the majority of my kids throughout my career would run through the wall for me, not because I told them to or because they believed in me, but because they knew I believed in them."

A coaching fate? Coach Halliday found an essay he had written his sophomore high school that said he wanted to teach history and coach track. After graduating college, he had forgotten about that essay and didn’t want to either, but now reflects on it.

“It’s funny how some things are just meant to be,” he said.

There isn’t enough space to specifically list everything he has accomplished, but Halliday’s coaching achievements are highlighted below.

Halliday Career Coaching Highlights:
Total Team State Championships = 4
Total Team State Runner-Up Championships = 2
Total Team 3rd Place State Finishes = 2
Total Top-5 Team State Finishes = 9
Total # of Schools Coached to the State XC Meet = 4
Total District Championships = 16
Total Individual/Relay State Champions = 16
Total Individual/Relay All-Americans = 10
Total Scholarship/Collegians = 65
Total FACA—All-Star Coach Selections = 3
Total Bob Hayes Invitational –Team Champions = 2
Total Area-Coach of the Year Awards = 18
Total State-Coach of the Year—Florida = 4
Major Awards:
2002 Presented the “Key to the City of Lake City” by Mayor Ray Kirkland on May 14, 2002, for service and dedication to the youth of Columbia County that resulted in the Columbia High School 2002 3A-Boys’ State Track & Field championship.
Florida Dairy Farmers’ – 3A-Boys’ Track & Field Coach of the Year 2002
Florida Dairy Farmers’ –Boys’ Track & Field Coach of the Year for the State Florida 2007 & 2009
Florida Dairy Farmers’ –Boys’ Cross Country Coach of the Year for the State Florida 2005
Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA) Meritorious Service Award 2011
Florida Track & Field Hall of Fame—Boys’ Track & Field—Coach of the Year: 2012-2013
Brooks –Most Inspiring Coach (USA) – Finalist 2014