Before he became a hall-of-fame coach, Jack Clark was an outstanding player.

Clark played football and rugby at Cal in the 1970s and parlayed a great size and athleticism, along with an analytical mind and desire to understand all aspects of the game, into his becoming a top-notch international player.

He delayed that development to play professional football, but by 1979 he was the star of the Inter-Territorial Championships, and was capped by the Eagles in 1979 and 1980.

Clark was a huge, powerful lock who was good enough to be named to a World XV that played Wales at Cardiff Arms Park. His rugby career was ended prematurely when he was shot in the leg outside a restaurant in San Francisco by a man who had been harassing a woman. He was lucky to survive as he was hit several times, but his drive and tenacity led him to change direction and become an elite coach. By 1984 he was the Head Coach at Cal and took the program to heights never before seen.

His accomplishments as a coach for the USA and Cal are well known, but those accomplishments make it easy to forget that Clark was a great rugby player. His career was short, but it was significant, and worthy of being listed among the very best.

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