Clark Learns to Trust from Michigan Football, Coach Hoke
9/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Senior defensive end Frank Clark of the University of Michigan football team led an existence that no child should have to, but far too many do.
Clark, now a 21-year-old senior and a leader of the Wolverine defense, spent the first 10 years of his life on the desperate streets of South Central Los Angeles, homeless most of the time while dodging life's land mines in Baldwin Village.
That area in the Crenshaw district was originally called "The Jungle" for the palms, banana trees and begonias that gave it a tropical feel in the post-World War II years when the city grew by leaps and bounds. But then "The Jungle" term took on a different connotation. The neighborhood went bad and it became a violent place where gangs prowled and drug lords reigned.
It was no place for a young boy who was beginning to drift the wrong way. Frank is the middle child of seven in his family and noted that some of his older brothers couldn't escape poverty's despair, ending up in prison.
His mother, Teneka Clark, who had her own issues, didn't want that for Frank. And so she arranged for him to move to Cleveland with his father, Frank Clark, and his aunt and uncle, Regina and Sefton Bryant. The tough, blue-collar Midwestern city was hardly a family paradise, but it was a far cry better than "The Jungle" -- especially after little Frank moved out of his father's neighborhood to the more stable setting where the Bryants lived.
Frank says he hasn't gone back to L.A. because nothing good can happen for him there. But he clings to his beloved Dodgers, the one thing about the City of Angels that makes him smile beside his mother. Frank hasn't seen her since 2003, but they talk on the phone, and he knows how proud she is of him.
His name likely will be called during the NFL Draft next spring, but he said the greatest day he could ever hope to experience could come Nov. 22 on Senior Day, with Maryland in town for his last game at Michigan Stadium. That's because he hopes that Mom will be there to see him play for the first time and to see the man her son has become.
"It would mean a lot," said Clark. "That is something that I always had dreams of, just having my mom see me play in a game and seeing me come to the point that I've come to. She hasn't seen this. She's never heard fans scream my name. She's never seen me play in person. I want my mom to see the success I've had since I've come to the University of Michigan."
Frank said connecting with his father 11 years ago, and having him in his life, was like finding gold. "I didn't have to dream about having a father anymore," Frank said.
And all these years later, his eyes still twinkle at the thought.
And Uncle Sefton brought some tough love, too, while also paying for his athletic training at Raw Talent Sports in Cleveland. Aunt Regina became like a mother to him.
"They changed my life just by being there to be the support factor I was always missing," said Clark. "I'm not saying that I never had support growing up in Los Angeles, but they just gave me that extra boost. My father, my aunt and my uncle, they gave me that boost that I needed to get to the next level -- paying for my training and going out of their way to do things for me, taking me on trips so that I could be successful and play the sport that I loved.
"Without them, I probably wouldn't be here today. Without my father and them I probably wouldn't be here today because they were all so hard on me. They wanted me to be just not average -- especially my aunt. She was more focused on the school aspect. And my uncle, he focused on the school, but he played football and wanted me to also."
Clark also had a good mentor while playing football for Coach Ted Ginn Sr. at Cleveland Glenville High, where current Wolverine defensive end Willie Henry was his teammate.
And so the village raised a child.
Clark, who had scholarship offers from Michigan State and others, said he decided Michigan would be his next stop mainly because of Wolverine head coach Brady Hoke.
"Coach Hoke believed in me from the start," Clark said. "He saw it before I saw it. And for me, it's like, 'Wow! How did you know? How did you know I was going to become this guy when you were telling me that my freshman year?'
"I asked him, 'How did you know?' And he said, 'I know players and I know you.' It's not rocket science. That's how we talk, me and Coach Hoke. We're always honest, and I told Coach Hoke, 'There are not too many people that I trust. I don't really tell lies, and there are not too many people in this world that I am always 100-percent honest with. You're one of those people that I am 100-percent honest with.' For some guys, it's hard to be honest to your head coach or to build a close relationship with your head coach.
"I got to a point with Coach Hoke where I can trust him, and where I'm from, you don't trust a lot of people. You grow up with a cut-throat mindset, getting yours and yours only -- playing for yourself. Not playing for your team but playing for yourself and getting yours. And making sure you get out. Coach Hoke made me believe that it's not about yourself. It's about the team."
And so Clark has become a success beyond his playing accolades and statistics. The coaches made him a second team All-Big Ten selection as a junior in 2013. And he's off to a great start this season, leading all Michigan defensive linemen with 17 tackles and the entire team with 5.5 tackles for lost yardage. He also has 1.5 sacks and one quarterback hurry.
"I think Frank will be the first to tell you that he made some mistakes," said Hoke. "But at the same time, to see his growth from a person standpoint and a maturity standpoint and a leader standpoint has been something.
"I think he's played at a high level, and he really practices at a high level. And when our offense scored (against Minnesota for a 7-0 lead on Saturday), the first thing Frank told the defense is, 'That's all we need.'"
Clark is a glass-half-full person from "The Jungle" where the glass isn't even half empty. That would be seen as optimistic in a place where the glass is shattered.
Asked where that attitude is rooted and who influenced him to think that way, Clark didn't hesitate, saying, "It comes from myself. I learned at a young age that I was the only one I could count on."
And yet he's become a great teammate.
"He's been positive, and this team is very important to him," said Hoke. "The group of guys he's with, the defensive line, I think is pretty close. I think his leadership there has been very valuable."
Clark is 6-foot-2 and 277 pounds but ran a 4.53-second 40-yard dash in high school and has speed that belies his size. Hoke said that combination of size and speed is his greatest attribute.
"You know, for his size, at over 270 pounds, he's very athletic," Hoke said. "And he has the ability to change directions very quickly. I would say the other part of it is that he's an instinctive football player. And you want as many of those guys on your team as you can. He has that feel."
Clark combined with sophomore defensive end Taco Charlton to sack Minnesota quarterback Mitch Leidner on Saturday. And after doing so, Charlton and Clark ran off the field like two big, swooping birds. And they did so holding hands.
"They slid the protection away, and me and Taco were doing a stunt together," said Clark. "It's one of the many blitzes we have in our defense. And they slid protection away and kicked the running back on me. I jumped over the running back, and the quarterback tried to slip out of Taco's hands. And I didn't even know I was going to help get that sack. But I looked up, and the quarterback was running toward me, and I just cleaned up the hit.
"We both got the sack, and it was just that moment where, 'This is what we can do when we work hand-in-hand together and trust one another to do our job.' And I've got to trust him to do his job -- because if he doesn't, I get blocked."
And so the boy who learned the hard way to trust no one, has become a man who realized you must instead simply choose wisely in those you trust.
That has made all the difference for Frank Clark.
