Deondri Clark serves as Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Line Coach for Mississippi Valley State University football, bringing extensive experience in coaching, administration and student-athlete development to The Valley.
Prior to joining MVSU, Clark served as Director of Operations and Chief of Staff for the Alabama State football program beginning in 2022. His career includes experience at multiple levels of collegiate athletics, along with service as an educator at the high school level and a lecturer at the university level.
Clark previously served as head coach at Fort Valley State, where he compiled a 19-14 record. He also served as the program's interim athletic director from 2007-08. His coaching career includes stops at Lane College and Morgan State, where he worked as defensive line coach, as well as positions at Benedict College and Central Michigan, where he served as a graduate assistant.
Clark also spent three seasons as head coach at Shaw University, leading the program to a 29-13 record and a conference championship in 2004. His success earned him Coach of the Year honors from three different organizations. Combined with his tenure at Fort Valley State, Clark owns a 48-27 career record as a collegiate head coach.
Throughout his career, Clark has placed a strong emphasis on the academic and personal development of student-athletes. His accomplishments include helping improve the academic performance of football student-athletes, identifying and developing individualized academic support for student-athletes with specific learning needs, and implementing Sankofa, a father-son reclamation initiative designed to strengthen parent and student-athlete involvement.
Clark also spearheaded a collaborative admissions and athletics recruiting process that contributed to a historic increase in university enrollment. In addition, he developed cultural and educational programming for road trips to provide student-athletes with a more comprehensive educational experience beyond competition.
A four-year letterwinner at Florida State University, Clark was part of one of the most successful eras in Seminoles football history. During his playing career, he participated in the Fiesta Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Blockbuster Bowl and Orange Bowl. Clark helped Florida State capture the first of its 13 consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference championships, while the Seminoles compiled a 42-7 overall record during his collegiate career.
