Bill Clark Selected as Alabama Football Legend 

MONTGOMERY – Bill Clark, who built a championship pedigree at three different schools, has been selected as the Alabama Football Legend for this year’s IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl.

Clark will officially be honored at the Alabama Football Legends luncheon on Monday, Dec. 15 at 11:30 a.m. at the downtown Renaissance Hotel and Spa.

He joins previous honorees Bobby Bowden (2014), Pat Dye (2015), Woodrow Lowe (2016), Gene Stallings (2017), Johnny Davis (2018), Larry Blakeney (2019), Woody McCorvey (2021), Chan Gailey (2022), Dr. James Andrews (2023) and Bobby Wallace (2024).

“I am so humbled,” Clark said. “There is something special about being called Coach. It means a lot to me to be honored with this group of coaching legends.”

Clark had successful head coaching stints at Prattville High School, Jacksonville State and UAB. During that time he won 166 games, three conference championships, two AHSAA state championships, two bowl games and one FCS playoff appearance.

He posted a 106-11 record at Prattville High School. The 90.6 winning percentage is the highest in AHSAA history with a minimum of 100 career games.

Clark guided the Lions to back-to-back Class 6A state championships in 2006 and 2007. The Lions won all 30 games during those two seasons and recorded a state record 56 consecutive regular season wins during Clark’s tenure.

In 2006, Prattville defeated Hoover 35-21 to a cap the first 15-0 season in school history at Legion Field.

In 2007, Prattville blanked Spain Park 14-0 at Legion Field for another 15-0 season for the Lions.

“I tell people all the time I always wanted to be a coach,” Clark added. “It has more to do with relationships, training, getting ready to play, the community involvement, all the stuff I believe in. The Xs and Os are important too, but it’s the relationships that mean the most.”

After his run at Prattville, Clark was named head coach at Jacksonville State, where he guided the Gamecocks to an 11-4 record and the school’s first FCS Playoff appearance.

Under his guidance, Jax State set 49 school records, 13 Ohio Valley Conference records and three NCAA marks.

He left his alma mater after one season to take over the reins at UAB. He’s the winningest coach in program history, going 49-26 with three division championships, two conference championships and four bowl appearances.

After a 6-6 mark in 2014, UAB announced the football program was being discontinued. One year later, the program was reinstated and Clark really went to work.

Clark led the Blazers back on the field in 2017 and immediately went 8-5 and led the team the first bowl appearance (Bahamas) in program history.

In the next three seasons (2018-20), UAB won 26 games, three division titles, two Conference USA championships and three bowl appearances.

He was 9-4 in 2021 capped by a win over BYU in the Independence Bowl.

Clark began as an assistant coach under his father and legendary coach, Ragan, at Piedmont High School. He later served as defensive coordinator at Tuscaloosa County High School, Coffee County High School in Georgia, and Prattville High School.

In 2012, he was named the first defensive coordinator in program history at South Alabama.

Clark now serves as the President of Coach Safely, an organization founded by Dr. James Andrews and former Jacksonville State head coach Jack Crowe.

The organization deals with youth sports age 6-13 years old to promote safety.

“We developed a state law that every coach has to take a safety course for all sports,” Clark said. “Our numbers are huge. We have dealt with more than 60,000 coaches and one million athletes since 2018.”