DALLAS – When Dallas trial lawyer Randy Johnston returned to Amarillo’s Palo Duro High School recently, the focus was not on his legal career. It was on the lasting impact of one coach who helped shape his life more than 60 years ago.
Mr. Johnston presented scholarships to two Palo Duro students in honor of the late Frontz M. Myatt, the longtime educator and track coach, remembered by generations of students for his discipline, encouragement and belief in preparation.
He told Amarillo TV station KFDA that after an unsuccessful track meet, Mr. Johnston said Mr. Myatt explained to him and his teammates that preparation was the key to success.
“Everyone wanted to win that race just as badly,” Mr. Johnston recalls Mr. Myatt saying to him and his teammates. “It wasn’t decided by who wanted to win the most. It was decided by who wanted to win that race three months ago. It was about who prepared to win.”
“That has applied to every aspect of my life. I don’t win trials because I want to win. I win because I prepare to win. That one day, those 30 minutes, changed my life.”
Mr. Myatt, who died in 2015, coached track and high schools in Stamford, Beaumont and Amarillo. He coached Palo Duro for 12 years, winning 10 district and two regional track championships, and is a member of the Panhandle Hall of Fame and the McMurry College Hall of Fame.
Johnston funded two scholarships this year to honor Mr. Myatt’s memory and assist deserving students that lack the funds to attend college. Mr. Myatt’s children attended the ceremony to award the scholarships.
“I wanted his family to know that their father was the one who was responsible for helping these students, you know, the money may have come from some lawsuit I settled, but it really comes from the heart of that man,” Mr. Johnston said.