The Cal 100: No. 35 -- Jack Clark
We count down the top 100 individuals associated with Cal athletics, based on their impact in sports or in the world at large – a wide-open category. See if you agree.
No. 35: Jack Clark
Cal Sports Connection: Clark played football and rugby at Cal in the late 1970s, and has been the head coach of Cal rugby since 1984.
Claim to Fame: He has won 29 national rugby championships as the Bears head coach. He also was head coach for the Collegiate All-America team from 1985 to 1992 and head coach of the USA National Team from 1993 to 1999.
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There is little debate that Jack Clark is the best college rugby coach in American at the moment, and you could make a pretty good case he is the best college rugby coach in history.
His 29 national college championships as Cal’s head coach – 24 in rugby 15s and five in rugby 7s – provide the evidence. The fact that he was the USA national team coach from 1993 to 1999 and registered more victories than any other head coach in the history of the USA Eagles solidifies his standing as one of best rugby minds in America. Clark also is credited with founding the U.S. Collegiate All-American team, which he coached from 1987 from 1992 and managed from 2001 to 2003.
This past season, which was his 40th as the Bears’ head coach, Clark came close to notching his 30th national crown, losing to No. 1 Navy 28-22 in the finals of the National Collegiate Championships in what is considered a rebuilding year for the Bears.
Even though the depth in men’s college rugby has improved considerably in recent years, look for the Bears to challenge for their first national title since 2017 in the spring of 2024 in Clark’s 41st season as head coach.
There was a time not long ago that the Bears dominated college rugby with a dynasty that challenged runs by the Connecticut women’s basketball (111 straight wins from 2014 to 2017), Trinity men’s squash (252 straight wins from 1998 to 2012), Iowa men’s wrestling (20 national titles in 26 years, 1975 to 2000) and UCLA men’s basketball (10 national titles in 12 years from 1964 to 1975), among others.
Cal rugby had a number of winning streaks under Clark, and here are the two most impressive streaks:
--- A domestic winning streak of 98 games from 1990 to 1996
--- A 115-game winning streak against American college competition from April 2004 until May 2009. The streak ended with a 25-22 loss to BYU in the 2009 national championship game.
Cal rugby victories by margins of 100 points or more were common, and in 2001 Stanford canceled its scheduled match against Cal because the Cardinal coach said his team was "very afraid to get injured."
Clark speaks about high-performing teams in this 12-minute video from 2016:
Clark was a standout football and rugby player at Cal after transferring from Orange County Junior College. He lettered as a Golden Bears offensive lineman in 1976 and 1977 in football and later signed with the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL, where he was one of the final cuts. He was then signed by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League, getting paid but never getting in a CFL game.
However, his passion was rugby. As a player Clark was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1979 Inter-Territorial Tournament/National Team Trials and was selected to the USA national team.
He became Cal’s assistant rugby coach in 1982 and was promoted to head coach two years later while still working in the financial world. His annual coaching salary at Cal was $1 until 1993, when he made coaching his full-time career. The Bears became the most successful college rugby program in history under Clark.
Cal 2023 captain Max Schumacher speaks about Jack Clark's coaching style
Clark has earned a number of honors:
--Craig Sweeney Award (presented to a past capped men’s USA rugby player who was respected by his peers and the rugby community, and has given back to the sport after his playing days were over)
--Glenn T. Seaborg Award (presented annually to a former Cal football player for his career accomplishments who represents the honored Cal principles and traditions of excellence in academics, athletics, leadership and attitude)
--Named a Living Legend by Pac-12 Networks
--Member of the U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame
--Named one of Cal's Ten Most Influential Sports Figures of the 20th Century by The Daily Californian in 2000
--2008 Americas Rugby News’ national coach of the year, selected from a pool of candidates representing U.S. coaches at all levels.
"I appreciate it sounds like coach speak, but the amount of further academic scholarship and professional success of our former players is what I’m proudest," Clark said. "I’ve attempted to be a team builder and it makes me proud to have so many guys building team in their workplaces, communities and families. We had loads of guys with an acute understanding of team."
The Cal 100: No. 36 -- Collin Morikawa
Cover photo of Jack Clark is by Kelley L. Cox, KLC Fotos
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