Austin Clark

Austin Clark joined the Miami Dolphins as outside linebackers coach in 2020 and was promoted to defensive line coach in 2021, helping the team post four consecutive winning seasons from 2020–23, one of only four NFL franchises to do so during that span, while earning playoff berths in 2022 and 2023, marking the organization’s first back-to-back postseason appearances since 1997–2001.

In 2023, Miami ranked 10th in total defense (318.3 yards per game), its first top-10 finish since 2010, and led the NFL in quarterback hits (131) while ranking third in sacks (56.0)—a franchise record—sixth in yards per rush allowed (3.8) and seventh in rushing defense (97.1). Under Clark’s guidance, Zach Sieler recorded a career-high 10.0 sacks in 2023, the most ever by a Dolphins defensive tackle and third-most among NFL defensive tackles that season, adding 63 tackles and becoming the first Miami player since 2000 with multiple sacks in a playoff game, while Christian Wilkins developed into one of the league’s premier defensive linemen, posting 9.0 sacks and 63 tackles in 2023 and amassing 353 career tackles since being drafted in 2019, the most among NFL defensive linemen in that span, after recording 98 tackles in 2022, the highest single-season total by an NFL defensive lineman since at least 1994. The Dolphins ranked fourth in rushing defense in 2022 (103.0 ypg) and recorded seven sacks in the AFC Wild Card game at Buffalo, the most in franchise postseason history, while Clark’s 2021 defensive line finished second in the NFL in quarterback hits (121) and fifth in sacks (48.0), highlighted by strong performances from players including Emmanuel Ogbah. In 2020, Miami improved from 32nd to tied for 10th in sacks (41.0), ranked sixth in scoring defense (21.1 ppg), and led the league in takeaways (29) and third-down defense (31.2%), with linebackers such as Jerome Baker, Kyle Van Noy and Andrew Van Ginkel each recording at least 5.0 sacks. Prior to joining Miami, Clark spent two seasons (2018–19) as defensive line coach at the University of Illinois, where he helped the program earn a bowl appearance in 2019 and guided Oluwole Betiku Jr. to a nine-sack season and third-team All-Big Ten honors. Clark mentored defensive end Bobby Roundtree in 2018 at the University of Illinois, where Roundtree led the nation’s defensive linemen with seven pass breakups and ranked sixth in the Big Ten with 7.5 sacks. Prior to Illinois, Clark spent two seasons (2016–17) at University of Southern California, coaching defensive linemen and outside linebackers, helping the Trojans win the Pac-12 Conference in 2017 while totaling 46 sacks, tied for the most in the nation. He tutored Uchenna Nwosu, a second-round pick (48th overall) of the Los Angeles Chargers in the 2018 NFL Draft, and Rasheem Green, a third-round pick (79th overall) of the Seattle Seahawks, with both earning first-team All-Pac-12 honors and finishing among the top 15 nationally in sacks—Green with 10 and Nwosu with 9.5. Another future NFL player Clark mentored at USC was defensive tackle Stevie Tu'ikolovatu, who was selected in the seventh round (223rd overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after earning second-team All-Pac-12 honors in 2016 and being named Rose Bowl Defensive MVP in the Trojans’ victory, the program’s first Rose Bowl win since Jan. 1, 2009. Clark began his coaching career in 2015 as a recruiting assistant at University of California, Berkeley, his alma mater, helping the team win the Armed Forces Bowl, after playing six seasons (2009–14) there as a defensive tackle, starting 11 games as a sixth-year senior in 2014, earning honorable mention All-Pac-12 recognition and receiving the Joe Roth Award, presented annually to the player who best exemplifies courage, sportsmanship and attitude. Clark earned his bachelor’s degree in American studies from California and is a Tampa native who played at Plant High School, helping the program capture the 2008 state championship; he and his wife, Alyssa, have a son, Bear, and a daughter, Rylee.