J.J. Clark

.J. Clark was named Stanford’s Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field on July 25, 2019. Clark oversees Stanford’s track and field and cross country programs.

He arrived after serving as the head coach of the women’s cross country and track and field programs at Connecticut for the previous five seasons.

Clark also served as the head coach and Director of Track and Field/Cross Country at Tennessee from 2001-14, leading the Lady Vols to NCAA indoor championships in 2005 and 2009. Clark was also an assistant coach for the 2008 Olympic team and has coached two USA World Championship teams.

During his tenure at Connecticut, Clark worked primarily with the distance runners and guided the Huskies to back-to-back American Athletic Conference women’s indoor track and field titles (2015-16), in addition to the school’s first AAC women’s cross country crown in 2017. Most recently this spring, Kat Surin and Susan Aneno earned second-team All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

At Tennessee, Clark served as the women’s track and field head coach until 2011, before he was promoted to Director of Track and Field/Cross Country and oversaw both the men’s and women’s programs. Clark led the Lady Vols to NCAA indoor crowns in 2005 and 2009, with Tennessee producing nine combined NCAA indoor/outdoor top-10 finishes during his career.

Under Clark’s leadership, Tennessee captured three SEC indoor championships and five SEC cross country titles. The Lady Vols claimed 61 individual SEC titles while establishing six American records and two world records. Clark was a three-time SEC Indoor Coach of the Year and a three-time SEC Cross Country Coach of the Year.

Clark was named National Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) in 2009 and the United States Track Coaches Association (USTCA) in 2005. Forty-six of his Tennessee student-athletes combined to earn 192 All-America honors.

During his combined tenures at Tennessee and Florida, Clark earned 21 coach of the year accolades (11 track and field with 10 cross country).

On the international scene, Clark was the United States women's middle distance assistant coach at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic games. He was also the United States head coach for the World Championship Team in 2001 and an assistant coach in 1997, specializing in middle distance.

At the 2000 U.S. Olympic trials, Clark was part of a historic moment as he coached his wife (Jearl Miles-Clark) and two sisters (Hazel Clark, Joetta Clark Diggs) to a sweep in the 800 meters and the trio advanced to the Sydney Games. Clark also coached his wife to the 800 American record (1:56.40), which lasted 20 years.