# George Clark (American football coach)

George M. "Potsy" Clark (March 20, 1894 – November 8, 1972) was an American football and baseball player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Michigan Agricultural College, now Michigan State University, (1920), the University of Kansas (1921–1925), Butler University (1927–1929), and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (1945, 1948), compiling a career college football record of 40–45–7. Clark was also the head coach of the National Football League's Portsmouth Spartans/Detroit Lions (1931–1936, 1940) and Brooklyn Dodgers (1937–1938), amassing a career NFL mark of 64–42–12. Clark's 1935 Detroit Lions team won the NFL Championship. From 1945 to 1953, Clark served as the athletic director at Nebraska.
As a member of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) during World War I, Clark was a member of the U.S. Army's 89th Division's football team that won the AEF championship in March 1919. In a team with many college football stars, Charles Gerhardt played quarterback and Clark played left halfback under the direction of right guard, team captain and coach Paul Withington.

## Head coaching record
### College football

| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing |
| Michigan Agricultural Aggies (Independent) (1920) ||||||
| 1920 | Michigan Agricultural | 4–6 | | |
| Michigan Agricultural: | Michigan Agricultural: | 4–6 | | |
| Kansas Jayhawks (Missouri Valley Conference) (1921–1925) ||||||
| 1921 | Kansas | 4–3 | 3–3 | 5th |
| 1922 | Kansas | 3–4–1 | 1–3–1 | 6th |
| 1923 | Kansas | 5–0–3 | 3–0–3 | T–1st |
| 1924 | Kansas | 2–5–1 | 2–4–1 | 7th |
| 1925 | Kansas | 2–5–1 | 2–5–1 | 8th |
| Kansas: | Kansas: | 16–17–6 | 11–15–6 | |
| Butler Bulldogs (Independent) (1927–1929) ||||||
| 1927 | Butler | 4–3–1 | | |
| 1928 | Butler | 6–2 | | |
| 1929 | Butler | 4–4 | | |
| Butler: | Butler: | 14–9–1 | | |
| Nebraska Cornhuskers (Big Six Conference) (1945) ||||||
| 1945 | Nebraska | 4–5 | 2–3 | 4th |
| Nebraska Cornhuskers (Big Seven Conference) (1948) ||||||
| 1948 | Nebraska | 2–8 | 2–4 | T–5th |
| Nebraska: | Nebraska: | 6–13 | 4–7 | |
| Total: | Total: | 40–45–7 | | |
| National championship  Conference title  Conference division title or championship game berth ||||||

### NFL

| Team | Year | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Postseason | Postseason | Postseason | Postseason |
| Team | Year | Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result |
| PRT | 1931 | 11 | 3 | 0 | .786 | 2nd in NFL | - | - | - | - |
| PRT | 1932 | 6 | 2 | 2 | .750 | 3rd in NFL | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost Playoff Game to Chicago Bears |
| PRT | 1933 | 6 | 5 | 0 | .545 | 2nd in NFL Western | - | - | - | - |
| DET | 1934 | 10 | 3 | 0 | .769 | 2nd in NFL Western | - | - | - | - |
| DET | 1935 | 7 | 3 | 2 | .769 | 1st in NFL Western | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | Won NFL Championship over New York Giants |
| DET | 1936 | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 3rd in NFL Western | - | - | - | - |
| BKK | 1937 | 3 | 7 | 1 | .300 | 4th in NFL Eastern | - | - | - | - |
| BKK | 1937 | 4 | 4 | 3 | .500 | 3rd in NFL Eastern | - | - | - | - |
| BKK | 1939 | 4 | 6 | 1 | .400 | 3rd in NFL Eastern | - | - | - | - |
| BKK Total | BKK Total | 11 | 17 | 5 | .393 | | - | - | - | |
| DET | 1940 | 5 | 5 | 1 | .500 | 3rd in NFL Western | - | - | - | - |
| PRT/DET Total | PRT/DET Total | 53 | 25 | 7 | .679 | | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | |
| Total | Total | 64 | 42 | 12 | .604 | | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | |