Phillip Clark has been a staple in Tennessee sports since 1975 when he began his collegiate baseball career at Jackson State Community College (JSCC), where in his sophomore season was named to the JUCO All-State Team. In 1977, he made the decision to return to his hometown of Memphis and continue his collegiate career at Memphis State University, where again he received All Conference accolades in what was then known as the Metro Conference.
In his two season at Memphis State he was the starting catcher on what is arguably the best and most successful season in school history, after losing a series to Florida State in the Super Regionals.
In 1980, he began his Head Coaching career at the young age of 24 at Skyview Academy in Memphis, TN. In his second year as a Head Coach he won his first TSSAA State Championship, and there would be more to follow. While at Skyview Academy, from 1980 to 1987, he returned to the State Tournament three more times and accumulated two State-Runner-Ups in 1983 and 1984, and his 2nd State Championship in 1986. In his seven years at Skyview, he accumulated an astonishing 156 wins with only 75 losses and accumulated 2 personal State Coach of the Year awards in 1981 and 1986 as well.
In 1988, he left Skyview and became the Head Coach at Germantown High School, where his, already, successful career soared to even greater heights, as he made Germantown Baseball a nationally known powerhouse, and began building what most Coaches would consider to be a “Dynasty.” In his 15 seasons at Germantown he won 456 games, took his overall win record from 156 wins to an astonishing 612 wins, while only losing 103 games, and helping over 60 kids sign scholarships to continue their academic and baseball careers, during the course of his tenure there. His teams at Germantown accumulated:
• 11 Region Championships
• 10 State Final-Four appearances
• 3 State Runner-ups (1992, 1993, 1998)
• 2 State Championships (1995, 2001)
• and a 1995 National Championship which was voted on unanimously in all 3 High
School Polls while his team finished 38-0.
The coaching honors he received, while he was at Germantown, are just as astonishing as the success that his teams had on the field. Awards and Honors included:
• 2 more State Coach of the Year Awards in 1995 and 2001
• 1995 USA Today Coach of the Year Award
• 1995 National High School Baseball Coaches’ Association Coach of the Year
Award
• 1995 USA Baseball Amateur Coach of the Year Award• a Head Coaching position of the U.S Olympic West Team that finished as
eventual Gold Medal Winners in the U.S. Olympic Festival in Denver, Colorado
• 1996 U.S. Olympic Committee National Coach of the Year Award
• 1997 Bronze Medalist as an Assistant Coach of the USA Baseball Junior National
Team- The team included four 1st Round and three 2nd Round Draft Picks
• 1999 Gold Medalist as the Head Coach of the USA Baseball Junior National Team
World Championships in Taiwan
In 2003, Coach Clark left Germantown and took over the Head Coaching position at Bartlett High School in Bartlett, TN, another suburb of Memphis. His success as a Coach would once again follow him and new era, with the same winning result, at yet another school would begin. In 10 years at Bartlett High School Coach Clark’s teams amassed 321 more wins with just 117 losses. His teams once again exceled, winning:
• 5 Region Championships
• 1 State Semifinal in 2010
• 2 State Runner-ups in 2006 & 2008
• 1 State Championship in 2007
In Coach Clarks’ 33 years as a Head Baseball Coach in the state of Tennessee his 933-295 coaching record and his .753 winning percentage speaks for itself. Along with his gaudy numbers and many accomplishments, Coach Clark has influenced the lives of not only many players that have been fortunate enough to have played under him, but also the countless number of Coaches that have had the pleasure to be a part of his staff. His influence on the game of baseball in the state of Tennessee and the Memphis area alone is still prevalent to this day. He played a major role in the beginning of the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association (TBCA), which has blossomed into one of the best high school baseball associations in the country, and in the Memphis area alone current head and assistant coaches at schools such as: Bartlett, Arlington, Houston, and Collierville to name a few, have either played for and, or coached under Coach Clark themselves.
Coach Phil Clark passed away in January of 2025.