Born in Nebraska, Clark was a multi-sport star athlete for the Western Maryland College Green Terror, playing as an end in football and coached by Dick Harlow.

From March 1943 to November 1945, when Harvard suspended its football program during World War II, Clark served as a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy, as an athletic instructor at the Naval Pre-Flight Training Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina; at Lakehurst, New Jersey, and at Corpus Christi, Texas.

Fesler resigned after the 1950 season, and Clark again accompanied him to another program, this time to the University of Minnesota in 1951.

[1] When Fesler's successor, Woody Hayes, came under fire for not meeting program expectations in his first three years as Ohio State's head coach, OSU Athletic Director Dick Larkins hired Clark away from Minnesota and back to Columbus to coach the Buckeye defense.

He developed emphysema during this period and retired from Ohio State and coaching before the 1966 season.