{"id":4578,"date":"2026-06-18T20:35:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T20:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4578"},"modified":"2026-06-18T20:35:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T20:35:18","slug":"former-ucf-coach-shawn-clarks-legacy-lives-on-in-his-wifes-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4578","title":{"rendered":"Former UCF coach Shawn Clark\u2019s legacy lives on in his wife\u2019s mission"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For Jonelle Clark, identity has been something she\u2019s grown into throughout her life.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Nursing-home execution\u2019: Advocates argue Orange County wife-killer, 74, is too old to be put to death<\/a><\/p>\n

Whether it was being a standout athlete at Eastern Kentucky, where she earned all-conference honors as a pitcher for the Colonels. Or becoming a devoted wife and partner to Shawn Clark, an assistant coach on the football team at EKU, or later becoming a loving mother to two children.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t easy at times, but she had always found a way to adapt, to be what she or her family needed her to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d say it was five to 10 years, where I was like, \u2018Okay, I finally felt this comfort and peace and sense of security in that role,\u2019 \u201d Clark recently told the Sentinel.<\/p>\n

Clark had grown into her identity, thriving as her husband climbed the coaching ladder.<\/p>\n

Clark joined Scott Frost\u2019s new coaching staff at UCF on Jan. 4, 2025, becoming the Knights\u2019 offensive line coach. Nine months later, on Sept. 10, Clark was hospitalized after suffering a medical emergency, according to UCF officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t tell you how much I like Shawn,\u201d Frost recalled recently. \u201cHe\u2019s one of those guys that when you\u2019re around him for about two weeks, you feel like you\u2019ve known him your whole life. He was going to be a lifelong friend for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

But just as Jonelle had gotten comfortable in her new surroundings, she found herself once again front and center with a new challenge.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Three weeks into the 2025 college football season, her husband was hospitalized.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe came into the office on the bye week with a smile on his face like he always had and checked in with me, making sure I was okay, which he always did,\u201d Frost said. \u201cLater that night, I got a call from my agent, who was his agent, that he was in the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were in the hospital for 12 days and \u2026 I was a mix of emotions,\u201d Jonelle Clark said. \u201cI was scared and sad and angry and confused and hopeful. I thought I should have been smarter. I wish I had known. I wish I had thought to say something (to Shawn).<\/p>\n

It was during this time, sitting in the hospital next to her husband, that Clark came up with the idea for an initiative. One that she hoped to share with her husband by her side after he recovered.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018When we\u2019re done with this, I\u2019m going to make him be done with coaching. That\u2019s enough. He\u2019s devoted too much of this, his life, to coaching and this is what\u2019s happened,\u2019 she recalled. \u201cWe can inform people, we can go around the country and we can spread awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Success, it seems, comes at a cost and for some coaches, that includes working long hours with little to no sleep, eating takeout food and getting little exercise. It was a lifestyle that Jonelle Clark had become all too familiar with in the more than two decades together with her husband.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, those plans would never come to fruition as Shawn Clark unexpectedly passed away on Sept. 22.<\/p>\n

Friends, family, administrators, coaches and former and current players would share Clark\u2019s legacy as a husband, father, coach and leader. His impact was felt by many, particularly those he touched during his time at Appalachian State, where he was a former player and eventually head coach.<\/p>\n

In the midst of this terrible loss, Jonelle Clark didn\u2019t want anyone else to have to go through what she and her two children, Giana and Braxton, went through. She pushed to create the Shawn Clark Legacy Foundation and launched The 61 Initiative.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody has tragedy in their life. There\u2019s nobody who\u2019s exempt and that can be how your story ends and you can let that dictate your life, or you can turn tragedy into testimony,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I want to do, so that we can do everything that we can to prevent something like this from happening.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe live in a broken world, and bad things are going to happen, but if we can do something to help and spread the awareness, I would appreciate that as a football family and a wife. I just hope this reached a larger audience and it already has, so I\u2019m excited about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more New Magic coach Sean Sweeney formally introduced: \u2018I\u2019m ready for it\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Clark\u2019s mission is simple: She does not want another coach, family, team, or community to have to experience this type of loss again.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoaches are just built differently,\u201d Clark explains. \u201cThey sacrifice time with their family and friends, they sacrifice sleep, they sacrifice hobbies,\u201d Clark said. \u201cNow that I look back, I just wish that I could have connected it all together. I wish there had been something in place that people said, \u2018Hey, these are the things that we need.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you go through something like that, it\u2019s traumatizing and this is a really admirable way for her to make sure that it didn\u2019t happen for no reason and it\u2019s going to lead to something better,\u201d said Frost.<\/p>\n

For Frost, the grief of losing his friend had to wait.\u00a0\u201cI had to keep moving forward and I don\u2019t think that gave me time to really process it until after the season,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And not all issues coaches face are on the physical side, with mental health also being a huge concern. Clark believes that as college athletics continue to tackle issues such as name, image and likeness (NIL) and revenue sharing, it\u2019s bound to have an impact on coaching staffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was stressful before, but with how the landscape is changing, with gambling and NIL, it just intensified the problem,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Frost knows firsthand about the stress of being a coach. He led UCF to an undefeated season in 2017 and returned home to coach at his alma mater, Nebraska. He was fired five seasons later before eventually returning to UCF last season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a high-stress job that sometimes the anxiety and pressure of it can get to you,\u201d said Frost. \u201cI\u2019ve had issues where I\u2019ve not been able to sleep because of it. This was a long time ago, but the pressure in my chest and feeling like something bad was going on, a lot of times it can be stress-related.\u201d<\/p>\n

UCF is one of 48 schools that have committed to the initiative, with more on the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur original goal was we wanted two schools represented per conference,\u201d Clark said. \u201cIf we could get that, we would be doing a heck of a job and be pretty proud of ourselves. But we have nearly 50 schools in total.\u201d<\/p>\n

While UCF continues to work on its own plans to help coaches manage health and stress, Frost said his wife, Ashley, has taken it upon herself to schedule his doctors\u2019 appointments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI imagine most coaches are like me, that I would probably overlook some things and man, my wife is on it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And as Jonelle continues to share her story with others, it\u2019s helped her deal with her own grief along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s scary to say something out loud at the beginning. It\u2019s scary to say he\u2019s gone,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the more you say it, the more real it becomes to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in getting involved with The 61 Initiative, contact Nolan Jones, chief operating officer of the Shawn Clark Legacy Foundation, at nolanjones@sc61.org.<\/p>\n

Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com. Sign up for the Sentinel\u2019s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Orange County can\u2019t agree to hike impact fees to build roads<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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