UCF Coach Shawn Clark Dies; Staff Replacements Named

Shawn Clark, the University of Central Florida offensive line coach and former Appalachian State head coach, died Monday at age 50 after being hospitalized since Sept. 9 following a medical emergency; the university has not disclosed an exact cause. His death prompted tributes across college football from colleagues and former players, including Scott Frost, Rich Rodriguez, Tony Gibson, Scott Satterfield and Eli Drinkwitz. Frost, speaking publicly for the first time since Clark’s passing, called him a friend and mentor and said UCF will honor Clark with helmet decals for the Sept. 27 trip to Kansas State as players and staff grieve. On the staff front, assistant Alex Farah has been serving as the interim offensive-line coach and former Purdue head coach Danny Hope will join UCF to help coach the line for the remainder of the season. An Appalachian State alumnus and two-time All-American who went 40-24 as App State’s head coach, Clark is remembered as a devoted husband to his wife Jonelle and father to daughters Giana and Braxton; memorial arrangements and fuller medical details remain pending.