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Illinois Football: Miami Dolphins sign Illini defensive line coach Austin Clark

By Rees Woodcock

CHAMPAIGN, IL - OCTOBER 13: An Illinois Fighting Illini helmet sits on top of a dryer on the sidelines during the Big Ten Conference college football game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Illinois Fighting Illini on October 13, 2018, at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CHAMPAIGN, IL - OCTOBER 13: An Illinois Fighting Illini helmet sits on top of a dryer on the sidelines during the Big Ten Conference college football game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Illinois Fighting Illini on October 13, 2018, at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Some bad news came down the Illinois football newsfeed on Thursday morning.

Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported that the Miami Dolphins have hired Illinois defensive line coach Austin Clark as their outside linebackers coach. This is a great move by the Dolphins but one that hurts for the Orange and Blue.

Clark joined the Illinois football program back in 2018. He has a short but solid coaching career already. He was a recruiting assistant for California in 2015. He then joined the USC staff in 2016 as an assistant defensive line and outside linebackers coach. He was with the Trojans for two seasons before coming over to Illinois.

While with the Illini for the 2018 and 2019 campaigns, Clark made a huge impact on the defensive line. Let me first start with recruiting.


The class of 2019 was solid for Illinois. This class was almost in the top 50 and featured some great defensive line talent. Moses Okpala, Keith Randolph and Seth Coleman were all defensive ends and all top 1000 recruits. All of them decided to come to Champaign.

Illinois was able to pull in another solid recruiting class of defensive linemen in 2020. Tre’von Riggins was a solid flip for the Illini. He will be playing defensive tackle. Cooper Davis flipped from Missouri to Illinois. He will suit up at defensive end. I loved the addition of Johnny Newton, Anthony Shipton and Quinton McCoy on the defensive line as well.

Clark was also able to develop players on the field. Bobby Roundtree spent one season with Clark and was third on the team in tackles and led the team in sacks with 7.5 in 2018. This past season, we had the privilege to see players like Wole Betiku develop. He dealt with some injuries but still managed to lead the team in sacks with nine this season.

Next. 3 observations from the Illini win over Wisconsin. dark

Some might say this was only the defensive line coach, but this is a position that was building. I believe Lovie Smith has a plan, but Clark will be missed. I wish him nothing but the best with the Dolphins.

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