George Clark (American football coach)

{{Short description|American football coach (1894–1972)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox college coach | name = George Clark | image = George "Potsy" Clark.jpg | alt = | caption = Clark from 1946 ''Cornhusker'' | birth_date = {{Birth date|1894|3|20}} | birth_place = Carthage, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1972|11|8|1894|3|20}} | death_place = La Jolla, California, U.S. | alma_mater = | player_sport1 = Football | player_years2 = 1914–1915 | player_team2 = Illinois | player_sport3 = Baseball | player_years4 = 1915–1916 | player_team4 = Illinois | player_positions = Quarterback (football) | coach_sport1 = Football | coach_years2 = 1916 | coach_team2 = Kansas (assistant) | coach_years3 = 1919 | coach_team3 = Illinois (assistant) | coach_years4 = 1920 | coach_team4 = Michigan Agricultural | coach_years5 = 1921–1925 | coach_team5 = Kansas | coach_years6 = 1926 | coach_team6 = Minnesota (associate HC) | coach_years7 = 1927–1929 | coach_team7 = Butler | coach_years8 = 1931–1936 | coach_team8 = Portsmouth Spartans / Detroit Lions | coach_years9 = 1937–1938 | coach_team9 = Brooklyn Dodgers | coach_years10 = 1940 | coach_team10 = Detroit Lions | coach_years11 = 1945 | coach_team11 = Nebraska | coach_years12 = 1948 | coach_team12 = Nebraska | coach_sport13 = Baseball | coach_years14 = 1920 | coach_team14 = Illinois | coach_years15 = 1921 | coach_team15 = Michigan Agricultural | coach_years16 = 1922–1925 | coach_team16 = Kansas | coach_years17 = 1927 | coach_team17 = Minnesota | coach_years18 = 1928 | coach_team18 = Butler | admin_years1 = 1927–1930 | admin_team1 = Butler | admin_years2 = 1948–1953 | admin_team2 = Nebraska | overall_record = 40–45–7 (college football) 64–42–12 (NFL) 71–55–3 (college baseball) | bowl_record = | tournament_record = | championships = Football 1 NVC (1923) | awards = * Third-team All-American (1914) * First-team All-Western (1914) | coaching_records = }} '''George M.''' "'''Potsy'''" '''Clark''' (March 20, 1894 – November 8, 1972) was an American football and baseball player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Michigan Agricultural College, now Michigan State University, (1920), the University of Kansas (1921–1925), Butler University (1927–1929), and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (1945, 1948), compiling a career college football record of 40–45–7. Clark was also the head coach of the National Football League's Portsmouth Spartans/Detroit Lions (1931–1936, 1940) and Brooklyn Dodgers (1937–1938), amassing a career NFL mark of 64–42–12.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/ClarPo0.htm|title=Potsy Clark Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks – Pro-Football-Reference.com|website=Pro-Football-Reference|access-date=December 21, 2020}}</ref> Clark's 1935 Detroit Lions team won the NFL Championship. From 1945 to 1953, Clark served as the athletic director at Nebraska.<ref>{{cite news |title=Potsy Clark Dead, Lions' First Coach |newspaper=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |date=November 10, 1972 |url=https://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F10910F63A591A7493C2A8178AD95F468785F9 |access-date=July 7, 2010 }}</ref>

thumb|230px|left|89th Division team, Clark at top right As a member of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) during World War I, Clark was a member of the U.S. Army's 89th Division's football team that won the AEF championship in March 1919.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Withington Story|last=Withington |first=Henry Restarick |year=1989 |publisher=Self-published |location=Phoenix, AZ |accessdate=December 19, 2023 |url=https://archive.org/details/withingtonstoryh00with}}</ref> In a team with many college football stars, Charles Gerhardt played quarterback and Clark played left halfback under the direction of right guard, team captain and coach Paul Withington.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theworldwar.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/wwi-kansas-history-football.pdf |title=Kansas Football "Over There" |first=Doran L. |last=Cart |date=Autumn 2006 |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=194–199 |magazine=Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains |access-date=August 7, 2024}}</ref>

==Head coaching record== ===College football=== {{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subhead | name = Michigan Agricultural Aggies | conf = Independent | startyear = 1920 | endyear = single }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1920 | name = Michigan Agricultural | overall = 4–6 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal | name = Michigan Agricultural | overall = 4–6 | confrecord = }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subhead | name = Kansas Jayhawks | conf = Missouri Valley Conference | startyear = 1921 | endyear = 1925 }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1921 | name = Kansas | overall = 4–3 | conference = 3–3 | confstanding = 5th | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1922 | name = Kansas | overall = 3–4–1 | conference = 1–3–1 | confstanding = 6th | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = conference | year = 1923 | name = Kansas | overall = 5–0–3 | conference = 3–0–3 | confstanding = T–1st | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1924 | name = Kansas | overall = 2–5–1 | conference = 2–4–1 | confstanding = 7th | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1925 | name = Kansas | overall = 2–5–1 | conference = 2–5–1 | confstanding = 8th | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal | name = Kansas | overall = 16–17–6 | confrecord = 11–15–6 }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subhead | name = Butler Bulldogs | conf = Independent | startyear = 1927 | endyear = 1929 }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1927 | name = Butler | overall = 4–3–1 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1928 | name = Butler | overall = 6–2 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1929 | name = Butler | overall = 4–4 | conference = | confstanding = | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal | name = Butler | overall = 14–9–1 | confrecord = }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subhead | name = Nebraska Cornhuskers | conf = Big Six Conference | startyear = 1945 | endyear = single }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1945 | name = Nebraska | overall = 4–5 | conference = 2–3 | confstanding = 4th | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subhead | name = Nebraska Cornhuskers | conf = Big Seven Conference | startyear = 1948 | endyear = single }} {{CFB Yearly Record Entry | championship = | year = 1948 | name = Nebraska | overall = 2–8 | conference = 2–4 | confstanding = T–5th | bowlname = | bowloutcome = | bcsbowl = | ranking = no | ranking2 = no }} {{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal | name = Nebraska | overall = 6–13 | confrecord = 4–7 }} {{CFB Yearly Record End | overall = 40–45–7 | bowls = no | poll = no | polltype = }}

===NFL=== {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;" |- ! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="5"|Regular season !! colspan="4"|Postseason |- !Won!!Lost!!Ties!!Win %!!Finish!! Won !! Lost !! Win % !! Result |- !PRT||1931 ||11||3||0|| .786 ||2nd in NFL|| - || - || - || - |- style="background:#fdd;" !PRT||1932 ||6||2||2|| .750 ||'''3rd in NFL'''|| 0 || 1 || .000 || '''Lost Playoff Game to Chicago Bears''' |- !PRT||1933 ||6||5||0|| .545 ||2nd in NFL Western|| - || - || - || - |- !DET||1934 ||10||3||0|| .769 ||2nd in NFL Western|| - || - || - || - |- ! style="background:#FDE910;" !DET||1935 ||7||3||2|| .769 ||'''1st in NFL Western'''|| 1 || 0 || 1.000 || '''Won NFL Championship over New York Giants''' |- !DET||1936 ||8||4||0|| .667 ||3rd in NFL Western|| - || - || - || - |- !BKK||1937 ||3||7||1|| .300 ||4th in NFL Eastern|| - || - || - || - |- !BKK||1937 ||4||4||3|| .500 ||3rd in NFL Eastern|| - || - || - || - |- !BKK||1939 ||4||6||1|| .400 ||3rd in NFL Eastern|| - || - || - || - |- ! colspan="2"|BKK Total||11||17||5||.393||||-||-||-|| |- !DET||1940 ||5||5||1|| .500 ||3rd in NFL Western|| - || - || - || - |- ! colspan="2"|PRT/DET Total||53||25||7||.679||||1||0||1.000|| |- ! colspan="2"|Total||64||42||12||.604||||1||0||1.000|| |- |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, George}} Category:1894 births Category:1972 deaths Category:American football quarterbacks Category:Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL) coaches Category:Butler Bulldogs athletic directors Category:Butler Bulldogs baseball coaches Category:Butler Bulldogs football coaches Category:Detroit Lions head coaches Category:Illinois Fighting Illini baseball coaches Category:Illinois Fighting Illini baseball players Category:Illinois Fighting Illini football coaches Category:Illinois Fighting Illini football players Category:Kansas Jayhawks baseball coaches Category:Kansas Jayhawks football coaches Category:Michigan State Spartans baseball coaches Category:Michigan State Spartans football coaches Category:Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball coaches Category:Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches Category:Nebraska Cornhuskers athletic directors Category:Nebraska Cornhuskers football coaches Category:Pensacola Naval Air Station Goslings football coaches Category:Saint Mary's Pre-Flight Air Devils football coaches Category:People from Carthage, Illinois Category:20th-century American people

George Clark (American football coach)

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