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- Year:
- 1974-1976
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- Sports Played:
- Football Athlete
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- Induction Year:
- 2016
Bio
Jack Clark came to Orange Coast College after lettering in three different sports at Edison High School, but as a Pirate, Clark will forever be associated with one of the top football teams in California Community College history. Playing tackle on the Pirates’ offensive line for two seasons, Clark helped pave the way for an OCC offense that dominated its competition. After helping Coast advance to the state championship game in 1974, Clark and the Pirates rolled through the competition in 1975, going 11-0 and winning the national title following a 38-14 win over Rio Hondo in the Avocado Bowl. On a team that featured a high-powered offense, it was players like Clark who helped give the play-makers the time to be successful. His hard work earned him a scholarship to the University of California, where he was the starting left tackle for the Golden Bears in 1976 and 1977. In addition to football, Clark competed on Cal’s rugby squad during his collegiate career. After Cal, Clark had a brief career of professional football with the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League before continuing his Rugby career, where he was named the MVP at the 1979 National Team Trials and was later named to the World XV team that played at Cardiff in 1980 for the Welsh centennial celebration. After his playing career ended, Clark returned to Cal, where he was named assistant rugby coach in 1982 and later named head coach in 1984. During his 33-year tenure as head coach, the Golden Bears have won 27 national collegiate championships. Clark has an all-time collegiate rugby coaching record of 614-80-5 (.878) in the traditional, 15-a-side version of the sport and a 109-14 (.886) record in the Olympic 7s. Clark was the head coach of the U.S. National Team from 1993-99 and helped the Americans to 16 international test matches, the most ever by a U.S. National Team head coach. In 2014, Clark was inducted into the U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame and in 2016 he was enshrined into the Cal Hall of Fame.
