Clifford John Prock (March 13, 1929 – July 17, 2012) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach. He was the head football coach at

Harding University Harding University is a private university with its main campus in Searcy, Arkansas. It is the largest private university in Arkansas. Established in 1924, the institution offers undergraduate, graduate, and pre-professional programs. The uni ...

Searcy, Arkansas Searcy ( ) is the largest city and county seat of White County, Arkansas, United States. According to 2019 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 23,767. It is the principal city of the Searcy, AR Micropolitan Statistical Area ...

from 1964 to 1987. He compiled a record of 114–123–7 , retiring as the fifth-winningest active coach in the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA) in 1987. A native of

Hollis, Oklahoma Hollis is a city in and the county seat of Harmon County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,060 at the 2010 census. History The city was named for George W. Hollis, a local businessman and member of the townsite committee that laid ...

, Prock was a four-sport star, growing up around other Hollis athletes

Darrell Royal Darrell K Royal (July 6, 1924 – November 7, 2012) was an All-American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Mississippi State University (1954–1955), the University of Washington (1956), and the University of Texas (1957� ...

(future Texas coach), Ted Owens (future Kansas basketball coach) and

Monte Moore Monte Moore (born 1930) is an American former radio and television broadcaster for the Kansas City Athletics and Oakland Athletics baseball teams. Voice of the Athletics An Oklahoma native, with a folksy, down-home style, Moore became the lea ...

(future major league baseball announcer). After playing college football for one semester at Northwestern Oklahoma State, Prock returned home to work for this father and for the county road department. He then joined the National Guard, deployed to Korea and became a platoon first sergeant of Company D, 120th Combat Engineers, using his road grader experience to help build roads and bridges for the allied forces. He then went back to college and played football, this time at Southwestern Oklahoma State, for three years, 1952-54. Going to Southwestern Oklahoma State was an easy decision for Prock since his former coach at Hollis,

Joe Metcalf Joe Bailey Metcalf (Oklahoma, August 11, 1901 – Oklahoma, September 7, 1979) was an American football coach who served as head football coach at Southwestern Oklahoma State University from 1952 to 1957. He compiled a record of 32–21–2 for t ...

, had become the head coach there. Prock started for three years at

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

and earned All-

Oklahoma Collegiate Conference The Oklahoma Collegiate Conference (OCC), also known as the Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference (OCAC), was an College athletics, intercollegiate athletic conference that existed from 1929 to 1974. The conference's members were located in the st ...

honors his senior year. The influence of Metcalf was not only monumental for Prock, but also for former Hollis player Darrell Royal. Later after retiring as head coach of the Texas Longhorns, Royal would mention that even at the end of his coaching career in 1976, he was still using the principles learned from two men;

Bud Wilkinson Charles Burnham "Bud" Wilkinson (April 23, 1916 – February 9, 1994) was an American football player, coach, broadcaster, and politician. He served as the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1947 to 1963, compiling a record of ...

at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

, and Metcalf of Hollis High School and Southwestern Oklahoma State. Upon graduation from college, Prock took an assistant coaching job in 1955 under former

Oklahoma Sooners football The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma (variously "Oklahoma" or "OU"). The team is a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is in Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (forme ...

player

Carl Allison Carl Allison (June 2, 1933 – December 3, 2013) was an American football player and coach of football and baseball. He was a four-year starter for coach Bud Wilkinson at the University of Oklahoma from 1951 to 1954, finishing his career as the te ...

at Clinton High School in

Clinton, Oklahoma Clinton is a city in Custer County, Oklahoma, Custer and Washita County, Oklahoma, Washita counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 9,033 at the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census. History The community began in 1899 when ...

. Allison had learned the game as a four-year starter under coaching legend

, and very briefly as a Chicago Bear player under

George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (; February 2, 1895October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was an American professional football player, coach, and team owner. He was the founder and owner of the National Football League's Chic ...

. Prock then followed Allison to Harding College as they worked to reinstate the Harding football program that had been dormant since 1931. Prock then took over as head coach of Harding in 1964 after Allison returned to Norman to work for the Oklahoma Sooners as a scout. Coaching the Bisons through the 1987 season, Prock tutored three players who would go on to become the next three winning head coaches at Harding after his retirement; Larry Richmond, Randy Tribble and Ronnie Huckeba. Tribble and Huckeba were also long-time assistant coaches under Prock.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prock, John 1929 births 2012 deaths American football guards Harding Bisons football coaches Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs football players High school football coaches in Oklahoma People from Hollis, Oklahoma Coaches of American football from Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma American members of the Churches of Christ