Northwood Principal Leslie Roach tells players about the coaching change Friday as JC Clarke, co-athletic director Sierra Wang and new coach Erik Terry listen. Clarke’s dog Nepo also attended. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
After four seasons as Northwood High School’s head football coach JC Clarke has resigned and will be replaced by former Irvine Vaqueros head coach Erik Terry, Principal Leslie Roach told Northwood football players Friday morning in a meeting on campus.
Clarke, who led Northwood to two CIF titles, will remain as the program’s defensive coordinator, Roach said.
Roach told the players Clarke has done “an amazing job” leading the football program and described him as a “defensive guru” while welcoming Terry, who has been co-athletic director at Northwood the past year, saying school officials are excited about him taking over.
To see additional photos, click on the first picture.
“We are excited to announce that Northwood’s very own co-athletics director Erik Terry, will be taking over our Northwood football program as the head coach,” co-athletic director Sierra Wang said in a letter to football families.
“Coach JC Clarke has done so much for our program over the years, including two back-to-back CIF championships, and we are thrilled to announce that he will be staying on staff as our defensive coordinator and assistant head coach.
“Coach Terry’s 30-year career in high school football includes significant stints at several schools including 18 years at Irvine High School, nine as the head coach. Some of his other stops include El Toro High School, San Marcos High School and most recently Mission College Prep in San Luis Obispo.”
Clarke led Northwood to the CIF Division 11 title in 2021 and the Division 8 crown in 2022. The Timberwolves advanced to the CIF playoffs three of the four seasons under Clarke, who had a 36-17 record. Northwood was 9-3 last season.
Clarke said he just completed his 50th season coaching.
“I had back surgery eight months ago and I’m going in Jan. 3 for another one, so I’ve got things like that,” Clarke said Friday. “I missed two games in 50 years, for my mom’s funeral and my dad’s funeral. If you step back, you can leave maybe if you have to, as a head coach you always feel like you have to be there for every spring practice and every summer practice because you’re telling the kids, ‘you got to come.’
“I’m still coaching defense, which I love to do, it’s mostly what I’ve done my whole career, so I still get to be around the kids. It’s been a great career and I plan on being here for more years.”
Terry resigned as Irvine High School’s football coach in December 2018 after nine seasons and said he and his family planned to move to Northern California to be closer to his parents.
Terry was with the Irvine football program for 18 years and had a 43-50-3 overall record. He led the Vaqueros to three CIF playoff appearances, including the 2018 season.
“It’s an exciting opportunity, with the move we made up North I served as an assistant for those five years and I think I really missed being a head coach,” Terry said. “Not coaching at all this fall, but being around really made me get the itch to come back, so it’s an exciting situation with the fact that JC is going to stay involved. That’s going to make the transition a lot better, a lot easier.”
Terry and Clarke coached together at Irvine High School for three years.
Terry was at Nipomo High School for a couple years before coaching at Mission College Prep in San Luis Obispo.
“I served on the coaching staffs for both those schools, but I wasn’t the head coach which was great because my son was playing so I got to enjoy that part of it without having to answer the day to day questions that a head coach has to deal with,” Terry said.
Terry will continue as co-athletic director along with Wang, he said.
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—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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