Long-time Northwood assistant JC Clarke named Timberwolves new football coach

J.C. Clarke has been named Northwood High’s new head football coach. (File photo: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone)

Long-time Northwood High assistant football coach J.C. Clarke has been named the new head varsity football coach at the school, according to Brandon Emery, co-athletic director at Northwood.

Northwood officials named Justin Utupo to replace interim coach Mike Stewart in May. But Utupo resigned to take the head coaching job at Lakewood.

Stewart was the interim coach for an abbreviated spring season that the Timberwolves had cut short due to injuries. Stewart stepped down after the spring season. Stewart was replacing Paige Nobles, who was not retained after leading Northwood to an 8-3 record in his only season. Nobles was later hired as an assistant coach at Dana Hils.

Now, Northwood officials turn to Clarke, a familiar figure, who will be a head coach for the second time in his career.

“Coach Clarke was most recently our defensive coordinator during this past season and has coached not only football but also basketball, wrestling, and track,” a release from Northwood noted on Tuesday. “His dedication to developing student-athletes is truly admirable.

“Coach Clarke brings more than 40 years of coaching, a dedication to the program and sport that is unmatched, and as a teacher at NHS for many years, a familiarity with the school’s culture that few can rival. We are excited to have him on our staff and are looking forward to the program’s continued growth under his leadership.”

Clarke, who retired as a teacher at Northwood, said he is excited to be named the head coach.

“I was happy to do it because I really like the senior and junior classes,” Clarke said Tuesday on his way to a passing league game.

Clarke started his career with Irvine Unified School District in 1997 at Irvine High, then moved to Northwood in 2004.. He also had stints as head girls basketball coach at Irvine and Northwood.

Clarke, who has coached high school football for 46 years, coached with Stewart in the spring season as linebacker coach and defensive coordinator.

He was also the head coach at Long Beach Wilson for four years before coming to Irvine. In his last season at Wilson, he led the Bruins to an 8-2 record and earned Moore League coach of the year honors.

Clarke, 64, said he hopes that better times are ahead after a challenging year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s been a really rough year for a lot of people and we got back in and we immediately had three or four devastating injuries to our seniors and one to our two-way sophomore, so we had to cancel the last three games,” Clarke said. “This pandemic has really been hard on our kids. I’m hoping for a little stability and a little of the old fashioned commitment being there and doing your best every week.

“If we can get all the kids to commit, I think we’re going to have a really good year.”

Among Clarke’s assistant coaches will be Stewart, long-time assistant coach Dean Toohey, Dave Harper and Mickey Dickson.

Clarke is also looking to add other assistant coaches.

Clarke’s hiring is the second to be announced this week in Irvine. Vincent Mesa, former Orange Coast College assistant coach, was named University High’s head coach on Friday.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com