Named the Ninth-best Recruiter in College Athletics by ESPN The Magazine (2011)
2006 NCAA National Assistant Coach of the Year
2006 NCAA Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year
2001 USAG State of Georgia Coach of the Year

Jay Clark enters his first season as associate head coach at LSU, and he brings with him a wealth of championship experience and recruiting prowess in collegiate gymnastics.

Highly regarded as one of the nation's best recruiters, Clark joins the LSU staff as recruiting coordinator, and he will also assist in coaching every event for the Tigers with an emphasis on uneven bars.

Because of his recruiting success, ESPNU and ESPN The Magazine selected Clark as the ninth-best recruiter in all of collegiate athletics in 2011.

Clark spent 20 seasons at the University of Georgia where he helped guide the Gym Dogs to seven NCAA National Titles and 12 Southeastern Conference Championships.

Clark primarily coached bars at Georgia, and he coached the Gym Dogs to 64 All-America honors and seven NCAA Individual National Titles on bars, including two-time champions Courtney Kupets and Kat Ding.

From 2009-12, Clark served as the head coach at Georgia, and during that time the Gym Dogs captured three NCAA Individual National Championships and produced 23 All-America honors. In 2012, his Georgia team won the Bulldog Cup, which recognizes the UGA team that excels academically, supports their peers in athletics and consistently serves the community.

Prior to his stint as head coach, Clark was the recruiting coordinator at Georgia from 1999-2009 while serving as assistant coach from 1999-2004 and associate head coach from 2005-09 when Georgia won an NCAA record five straight national titles.

In 2006, he earned NCAA National Assistant Coach of the Year and NCAA Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year honors after Georgia won a second-straight national title, and in 2001 Clark was named USA Gymnastics State of Georgia Coach of the Year.

Clark also coached at the club level for 13 years from 1992-2005 as the founder, owner and head coach of Classic City Gymnastics in Athens, Ga. He coached several Classic City gymnasts to state, regional, national championships and to the Junior Olympic National Team, and eight gymnasts went on to compete collegiately at the NCAA Division I level.

A native of Roswell, Ga., Clark earned his undergraduate degree in exercise science from Georgia. During his college career he also worked as a Physical Therapy Technician at Athens Sports Medicine Clinic, and he stayed in that capacity for four years until his coaching career began at Georgia.

Clark is married to the former Julie Ballard, an All-American Georgia gymnast from 1994-98 and a native of Mandeville, La. The couple has two children - a son, Cole, 10, and a daughter, Kinsey, 7.

College Coaching Experience
2012-present - Associate Head Coach, LSU
2009-2012 - Head Coach, Georgia
2005-2009 - Associate Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator, Georgia
1998-2004 - Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator, Georgia
1990-1996 - Assistant Coach, Georgia