Byron McGlathery was born in Huntsville, Alabama. His parents were Horace and Lillian McGlathery. He has five siblings.

Byron was introduced to wrestling in the 8th grade at Stone Jr. High. He was the Huntsville City Schools Junior High wrestling champion in the 8th and 9th grade and was undefeated both years. He attended Butler High and wrestled under the guidance of one of the greatest high school coaches, Glenn Stowe. He was a two-time Alabama High School wrestling champion, in 1974 and 1976. In 1976 he was Most Valuable  Wrestler in the Alabama State Tournament and the Most Valuable Athlete in the city of Huntsville, Alabama.

Byron attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on a wrestling scholarship. Some of his accomplishments were: a four-year varsity letterman, two-time Southern Conference Champion and two-time Most Valuable Wrestler in 1978 and 1980. He won the Southern Open Invitational Tournament in 1980 and was the Most Valuable Wrestler. His record in college matches were 101-19-1.  He finished 5th place in the NCAA Division 1 National Wrestling Tournament, becoming UTC’s first Division 1 All-American in school history. He was inducted into the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992.

After graduating, Byron began teaching and coaching wrestling at Western High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. After one year, he returned to Huntsville and coached at Lee High School. At Lee High, he coached two State Champions and the State’s most Valuable Wrestler. The following year he coached in Guntersville, Alabama. While there, he had three individual state champions. After four years he returned to Huntsville and coached Football and Track at Stone Middle School, winning one middle school city football championship and three consecutive track championships. He started a youth wrestling program, Gator Wrestling Club. He coached wrestling at Butler High School for ten years and coached one state champion.

In 1998 he hung up his wrestling shoes to became a Secondary School Administrator. However, after his son began wrestling, he assisted Sparkman Wresting team for four years. He retired from the Alabama Education System with 30 years of service. He enjoyed being a positive role model for all the young people he coached and all the children he impacted as a teacher and an administrator.

In 2003, Byron was inducted into the Huntsville-Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame.

He is married to the wonderful Jacqueline Moore-McGlathery and they have a daughter, Gabrielle McGlathery Leonard and a son Micah Byron McGlathery.