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Monte Clark: Lions Coach a Man of Integrity

NFL Countdown | by Mike O'Hara | 09.17.2009/1:45PM

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Monte Clark’s football career spanned eras and change over more than a half century, but as the game evolved in style, substance, finances and the skills of its competitors, he never wavered in his commitment to principle and integrity.
Clark, best known in Detroit as head coach of the Lions for seven seasons, died Wednesday night after a long illness. He was 72.
Clark was an insider in the game of football, as a player, coach and personnel assistant. He was respected in all quarters for his dedication at every level.
He was a large man – 6 feet 6 and close to 300 pounds – with an even larger heart and capacity to shoulder responsibility in the face of any adversity.
And despite his size, and the stoic demeanor he often presented, he had a sharp wit and a dry sense of humor.
One of Clark’s enduring lines was uttered early in the 1983 season during a losing streak when his job was thought to be in jeopardy.
“See you at the cemetery,” Clark said breezily as he left the locker room after a road loss to the Rams dropped the team’s record to 1-4.
The Lions rebounded to make the playoffs, one of two postseason appearances in Ford’s tenure and the first back-to-back playoff appearances by the Lions since their championship era of the 1950s.
He enjoyed sparring with the media.
“You don’t look like yourself,” he told a reporter one day, adding: “and I’ve noticed the improvement.”
Clark was at his best in times of turmoil and upheaval, which was common in those days.
In the 1980 season, a player walked out in midseason over a contract dispute. The player threw his shoes into a trash can in the locker room.
“I took that as a bad sign,” Clark said.
And another time he espoused his theory of coaching, saying: “The whole key is sincerity. When you learn to fake that, you’ve got it made.”
In reality, there was nothing fake or insincere about Clark. His word was gold – with no fluctuation in value.
Clark was associated with greatness at every level of his football life.
He grew up in California’s San Juaquin Valley, where he competed with Rafer Johnson, the great track and field star, and his brother, Jimmy Johnson, a Hall of Fame defensive back.
Later in the NFL, Clark blocked for Jim Brown as an offensive lineman with the Cleveland Browns, drafted Billy Sims as head coach of the Lions, and was a close observer of Barry Sanders as an advisor to the Lions after his head-coaching career had ended.
He also had brief stints as a college assistant at Stanford and Cal, and was a personnel assistant and part-time offensive-line coach for the Miami Dolphins in the early 1990s.
Although he played 11 seasons (1959-69) for the San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys and Browns and was a head coach for eight seasons with two teams (49ers and Lions), Clark probably was best known in the NFL for his work as the Dolphins’ offensive line coach under Don Shula.
Shula hired Clark in 1970, the year after an eye injury forced him to retire as a player.
In six seasons with the Dolphins (1970-75), Clark developed two Hall of Fame linemen, Jim Langer and Larry Little. A third, Bob Kuechenberg, has been a finalist numerous times.
Most of Clark’s linemen were castoffs acquired from other teams or low-round draft picks.
Clark was so respected for his detailed knowledge of offensive-line play that he once wrote description for offensive holding in the NFL rulebook.
In an interview during Super Bowl week after the 1982 seasons, Kuechenberg said Clark was “like a brother to me.”
The Dolphins won their two Super Bowls while Clark was an assistant. The 1972 team went 17-0, becoming the only NFL team to go undefeated throughout the regular season and playoffs.
Clark and Shula developed a deep and lasting friendship. Shula paid tribute to Clark Thursday in a statement released by the Dolphins.
“I was very saddened to hear about the passing of Monte,” Shula said. “He was a good friend and an outstanding coach. Monte was an outstanding teacher and knew how to present information to his players in a way that made it interesting and exciting for them.”
Clark was an All-American defensive lineman and team captain at Southern Cal. He was drafted by the 49ers in 1959 and traded to Dallas in 1962, where he switched to offense. He went to Cleveland in 1963, where he had his greatest success and played on the Browns’ 1964 NFL champions.
He went directly from the playoff field to coaching.
San Francisco hired him as head coach in 1976, and the 49ers went 8-6, a dramatic turnaround. However, coach resigned out of principle after the season, claiming the authority granted him in his contract had been diminished by 49ers GM Joe Thomas.
After a year out of coaching, Clark was head coach of the Lions from 1978-84. His overall won-lost record was 43-63-1, but it was skewed by two bad seasons – a 2-14 record in 1979 when injuries knocked out his top two quarterbacks, and 4-11-1 in 1984, his last season in Detroit.
The Lions were 9-7 in 1980 and tie Minnesota for the division title but lost out on a playoff berth under the tiebreaker formula. They made the expanded playoff field with a 4-5 record in the strike—shortened 1982 season and rallied to win the division the next year.
As a player, Clark was best known for blocking iconic running back Jim Brown as an offensive tackle for the Cleveland Browns.
As head coach of the Lions, his highlights seasons 1980—when the Lions got off to a 4-0 start and players adopted “Another Bites the Dust” as their theme song, and 1983.
The Lions nearly beat the powerful 49ers in the playoffs. Clark was seen with his hands clasped in prayer as Eddie Murray lined up a potential game-winning field-goal attempt in the final seconds.
The prayers were unanswered. Murray’s kick was wide, letting the 49ers escape with a 24-23 win.
The 1984 season was Clark’s last as a head coach.
Clark moved to Metro Detroit when he was hired by the Lions in 1978 and never left. He was active in numerous community events and causes.
Among other things, he worked as a game-day analyst on Michigan radio broadcasts and he was a part-time adviser to Lions coaches.
Clark had been ill in recent years but remained active. In a statement issued Thursday, the Lions said Clark died Wednesday night at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit after an extended illness with a bone-marrow malignancy associated with lung and liver disease.
He is survived by Charlotte, his wife of 52 years, and three sons – Bryan, Randy and Eric.

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