Jack Clark grew up a multi-sport athlete in Huntington Beach, California, starring in football, basketball, and track at Edison High School. After earning All-American honors as a tackle at Orange Coast Junior College, he transferred to UC Berkeley, where he lettered in both football and rugby — earning All-Coast football honors alongside a spot on the U.S. National Team.
In 1979 he was named MVP of the U.S. National Trials, capped internationally, and selected to the World XV. That same competitive drive carried him into coaching: he joined Cal's rugby staff as an assistant in 1982, and took over as head coach in 1984 — a post he still holds, 43 seasons later.
What followed is the winningest run in American rugby history. Clark's Cal teams have claimed 30 national championships, and from 1993 to 1999 he led the USA National Team, notching more international test-match victories than any coach in U.S. history before serving as general manager through the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Today, Jack Clark isn't just a Bay Area sports legend — he's the architect of American collegiate rugby as we know it.