Monte Dale Clark (January 24, 1937 – September 16, 2009) was an American football player who served as head coach for the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions.

He was a two-year starter and in 1958, he was named a co-captain of the squad, playing on both sides of the line with future Pro Football Hall of Famer Ron Mix.

On April 29, 1963, he was traded to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for Pro Bowl offensive guard Jim Ray Smith.

[4] The Cleveland Browns acquired Clark primarily because of his pass protection skills and to replace the recently retired Mike McCormack at right tackle.

[9] In Miami, Clark built what many consider one of the best offensive lines in NFL history, as Larry Little and Jim Langer are both in the Hall of Fame, while Bob Kuechenberg continues to be nominated every year.

As essentially the team's general manager, one of Clark's early moves was to acquire quarterback Jim Plunkett from the New England Patriots.

After winning six of the first seven games, the 49ers dropped a 23–20 overtime decision to the St. Louis Cardinals, a defeat that began a tailspin in which the team ended the year with an 8–6 record.

Clark's actions would ring true as Thomas would go on to oversee the worst stretch of football in the team's history burning through four coaches in three years.

After sitting out the 1977 NFL season, Clark found a new challenge when he was hired as head coach of the Detroit Lions on January 11, 1978.

However, in 1979, a season-ending injury to starting quarterback Gary Danielson during the preseason left the Lions without an experienced signal caller and resulted in a disastrous 2–14 campaign.

The one bright spot in that season was that Detroit selected first in the 1980 NFL draft, with the team picking Heisman Trophy winner Billy Sims.

On December 19, 1984, the inevitable resulted when Clark was dismissed, a move that kept him out of football for the next five years until his return as Director of Player Personnel for the Dolphins in February 1990.