He's Turning In His Suit

With the Exeter-Andover game on November 10, Bill Clark '35 will end his long regime as head football coach at Phillips Exeter Academy. Clark, who has been head coach for eighteen seasons, will continue to teach a full schedule of mathemat- ics, supervise a dormitory and assist in various intramural sports. All this and the head coach's responsibilities too have become too much of a load for one man, so Bill will "take it easy" with just a normal schedule.

After captaining the Exeter football team in 1930, Clark came to Dartmouth and won a lasting place among the Big Green's all-time backfield greats. He was freshman football captain and a varsity halfback for three years. He also starred in baseball at Dartmouth and was captain in his senior year. He batted .486 and .489 in his last two seasons, was named All-Ivy-League catcher in 1935, and won the Gallagher Trophy as the Dartmouth student

"who best combines athletics and scholarship."

After teaching and coaching at Taft School for two years, Clark returned to Exeter in 1937. He was backfield coach under Martin Souders for two years and in 1939 took over as head coach. In the eighteen seasons since then his teams have won 57 games, lost 51 and tied seven. In addition to football duties, Clark has helped coach baseball and golf and has supervised the intramural hockey league. As a golfer, he is a rare ambidextrous swinger and carries both left- and right-handed clubs in his bag.

Against arch-rival Andover on November 10 the Exeter team will have a special incentive to win this last one for their coach, but Bill Clark's real coaching accomplishment will not be altered one iota by a victory or a defeat. He leaves his job with praise and affection showering upon him from all sides. After he winds up this season, he looks forward to having "more time for teaching, reading, gardening and hunting."

Bill Clark '35