Tom Clark (American football)

Tom Clark is an American football coach. He served for nine non-consecutive seasons as the head coach at Catholic University of America, where he compiled a 58–32–1 record and a .643 winning percentage. Currently, Clark is the defense coordinator for the VMI Keydets.

Tom Clark
Current position
TitleDefensive coordinator
TeamVMI
ConferenceSoCon
Biographical details
BornWashington, D.C.
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1983–1984St. John's College HS (DC) (assistant)
1985–1986Catholic (DB)
1987–1988Colorado (DB)
1989–1994Bishop McNamara HS (MD)
1994–2000Catholic
2001–2003William & Mary (DC)
2004–2005Catholic
2006–2011Liberty (DC)
2012–2014William & Mary (DB)
2015–presentVMI (DC)
Head coaching record
Overall58–32–1 (college)
Tournaments0–3 (NCAA D-III playoffs)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1 ODAC (1999)

Early life

Clark was born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland. He attended the University of Maryland, College Park, where he graduated in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in kinesiology. His first coaching position was as the head coach at St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C. from 1983 to 1984.[1]

Coaching career

Clark's first college coaching experience was as the secondary coach for the football team at Catholic from 1985 to 1986. He then moved on to Colorado, where he served in the same capacity for the 1987 and 1988 seasons. He returned to the Washington metropolitan area to serve as athletic director and head football coach at Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Maryland from 1988 to 1994.[1]

In 1994, Clark returned to Catholic to take the head coaching position. He remained there for seven seasons and compiled a record of 56–14–1 and a 0.792 winning percentage. Each year from 1997 to 1999, Catholic advanced to the Division III playoffs before being eliminated. In 1999, the team won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) championship with a 9–2 record.[1] It was the first year that Catholic was eligible for the ODAC title as a new member.[2]

From 2001 to 2003, Clark served as the defensive coordinator for William & Mary. The Tribe won a share of the Atlantic 10 Conference championship in his first year.[1] In 2004, Clark returned to Catholic again as head coach. He stayed for two seasons, but was less successful, compiling a 2–18 record.[1][2]

In 2006, Clark became the defensive coordinator for Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. He installed a 3-4 defensive scheme, which had previously never been used at Liberty. During that first season, the Liberty Flames ranked 12th nationally in scoring defense, allowing 15.64 points per game, and 36th in total defense, allowing a total of 306.0 yards per game.[1]

He returned to Williamsburg in 2012 to serve as the Tribe's defensive backs coach.[3]

After three seasons with the Tribe, Clark was hired by Scott Wachenheim as the defensive coordinator of the Virginia Military Institute. In addition to being a defensive coordinator, Clark will also handle the defensive backs and secondary.[4]

Head coaching record

College
Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
Catholic University Cardinals (NCAA Division III independent) (1994–1998)
1994 Catholic University 8–2
1995 Catholic University 6–2–1
1996 Catholic University 7–2
1997 Catholic University 10–1L NCAA Division III First Round
1998 Catholic University 10–1L NCAA Division III First Round
Catholic University Cardinals (Old Dominion Athletic Conference) (1999–2000)
1999 Catholic University 9–26–01stL NCAA Division III First Round
2000 Catholic University 6–44–23rd
Catholic University Cardinals (Old Dominion Athletic Conference) (2004–2005)
2004 Catholic University 0–100–67th
2005 Catholic University 2–81–5T–5th
Catholic University: 58–32–111–13
Total:58–32–1
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

See also

References
  1. Coach Detail: Tom Clark, Liberty University, retrieved February 21, 2009.
  2. Past Standings and All-Conference Squads, 2007 ODAC Football Guide, Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC), 2007, retrieved February 13, 2009.
  3. "Tom Clark Bio". Athletics at William & Mary. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
  4. "Tom Clark Bio". VMIKeydets.com. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
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