Clark Lea - Football Coach - Bowling Green State University Athletics

Clark Lea

Title:
Assistant Coach/Linebackers
Email:
clea@bgsu.edu

All-MAC Performers under Lea: Gabe Martin (2012, first-team), Dwayne Woods (2012, third-team).

Clark Lea completed his first year as the linebackers coach at BGSU.

It would be hard to argue that Lea’s first year with BGSU could go much better. He helped coach a defense that was sixth in the country in total defense (296.6) and 10th in scoring (16.7), while his linebacker unit featured a pair of All-MAC performers.

Gabe Martin, his first year as a starter for the Falcons, earned first-team All-MAC honors, finishing first on the team with 70 tackles and added 4.5 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss. Middle linebacker Dwayne Woods garnered third-team All-MAC after finishing the year third on the team with 68 tackles, 2.0 sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss.

Lea has seven years of experience coaching linebackers, including the three seasons with the UCLA Bruins. Lea was part of two bowl teams (2009 and 2011) and coached linebacker Akeem Ayers, who was a Dick Butkus Award Finalist in 2010 and went on to be selected by the Tennessee Titans in the 2011 draft (39th selection).

In 2009 the Bruins won the Eagle Bank Bowl over the Temple Owls, a member of the Mid-American Conference. That season the Bruins’ defense ranked third in the PAC-10 in total defense and scoring defense and was first in turnovers forced.

Lea (pronounced Lee) also served as a Bruins graduate assistant in 2006 and a defensive intern in 2005.

In between his pair of stints as a Bruins coach, he spent two seasons (2007 and 2008) as linebackers coach at South Dakota State University and was recruiting coordinator during the second year. He also coached the kickoff coverage unit and assisted with other special teams units. In 2008, the Jackrabbits finished 7-5, playing six teams ranked in the Top 25, and placed third in league play with a 6-2 record.

In 2007, his three starting linebackers ranked among the top four tacklers in the league and South Dakota State won the Great West Football Conference championship. Two of his players were first-team all-league selections and the third was a second-team choice.

Prior to UCLA, Lea served as an offensive graduate assistant (running backs) at Vanderbilt University in the Spring of 2005. Lea was a three-year letter-winner at Vanderbilt University from 2002-2004, the final year as a graduate student, and was a baseball letterman at Belmont University in 2001-2002 and Birmingham Southern College in 2000-2001.

During his collegiate career, Lea was a member of the SEC Honor Roll and an All-Academic SEC honoree. He was also a John Wooden Cup finalist, a trophy awarded by Athletes for a Better World, and a National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame honoree. He earned a bachelors in political science from Vanderbilt in 2005 and a Masters in political science from Vanderbilt in 2007.