Bio

Coach Ryan Clark is entering his second season as the Head Coach of the Gadsden State Softball Program. 

Coach Clark was announced as the Gadsden State Softball Head Coach in July of 2023. He tasked with reviving a program that had been dormant since 2016. In his first season, Coach Clark played a crucial role in rebuilding Gadsden State Softball Program’s identity and culture. Coach Clark used the inaugural season to lay a strong foundation for long-term success. With a roster composed primarily of first-year players, the team showed steady improvement throughout the year. Despite being one of the youngest teams in the conference, the Cardinals showed flashes of their potential, highlighted by individual player honors and strong performances against top-tier opponents. Under Coach Clark’s leadership, the softball team placed twenty players on the Commissioner's Honor Roll and had one athlete earn ACCC Player of the Week honors. The team also featured several All-Academic All-Americans and boasted above a 3.3 team GPA.

Prior to Gadsden State Coach Clark was the Head softball coach at Sylvania High School. During his first season, the team was the area runner-up and made it to the regional tournament for the first time in eight years. In the 2023 season, the softball team was runners-up in Dekalb County and 3A Area 14. They also made it to the Sweet 16 during the 2023 postseason, making it the most successful season in the last nine years and tied for the most successful season in the last 17 years.

After graduating from JSU, Clark accepted the head baseball job at Sylvania High School. He was the head baseball coach from the 2018 season to 2021. In the first year under his leadership, Sylvania made it to the 3A high school playoffs for the first time in seven years. They made trips to the postseason in 2018, 2019 and 2021; made play-off runs in 2019 and 2021; and were the Dekalb County Champions in 2021.

Coach Clark’s softball background started in 2012 when he was a part of the support staff for the Snead State Community College softball team for two seasons. In his second year at Snead, the softball team made the postseason for the first time in school history. In 2014, he moved on to Jacksonville State University, where he also worked with the softball team for two seasons. His second year at JSU, the team was undefeated regular season conference champions, conference tournament champions and second place in the region. He contributes much of his coaching base to what he learned working with the programs at Snead State and JSU.

Clark earned a master’s degree in Physical Education at the University of West Alabama and a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education from JSU. He is a graduate of Plainview High School and is a native of Rainsville. He and his wife, Katlin, have two children, Ava and Brodie.