Lakewood Hires Cliff Orwick as New Football Coach in Surprising Ouster of LJ Clark

Lakewood has hired former Monmouth Regional assistant Cliff Orwick as its new head football coach in a surprising move, parting ways with 15-year head coach L.J. Clark.

Orwick was approved as Lakewood’s new head coach by the Board of Education on Wednesday, which was first reported by the Asbury Park Press. He has previously coached at high schools in Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina and in North Jersey, as well as two seasons as an assistant at Monmouth Regional. 

The Board’s decision not to re-hire Clark comes only a few months before the season starts and abruptly ends Clark’s 20 seasons as an assistant and head coach at his alma mater. 

No reason was given for Clark not being brought back. Football coaches are approved on a yearly basis by the Board of Education.

Lakewood athletic director Tom Stead told Shore Sports Insider he could not comment on personnel decisions due to Board of Education policy. 

Orwick Becomes a First-Time Head Coach

Orwick, 45, was hired as a physical education teacher in Lakewood in January and served as an assistant on the Piners’ girls wrestling team this past winter. 

He is a 2004 graduate of West Chester University, where he played defensive line after growing up in Pennsylvania. He started his coaching career as an assistant Downington West High School in Pennsylvania, then moved to Maryland, where he coached at Winston Churchill High School and Thomas S. Wootton High School. 

Orwick then joined his former head coach at Churchill as the defensive coordinator at Cox Mill High School in North Carolina for three years. He moved back to Maryland and coached at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville before moving to New Jersey.

Orwick coached at Morris Catholic High School for two seasons and then at Dover High School for five years. His most recent football coaching job was coaching the offensive and defensive lines at Monmouth Regional under head coach Dan Wendel, which included a Shore Conference National Division title in 2021. 

He spoke with Shore Sports Insider about being hired as the Piners’ new coach as he assembles a staff late in the game. 

“I got a teaching job there and I always wanted to be a head football coach,” Orwick said. “I see it as something to build on and make my program the way I want it. All my coaching experience, I just want to put that into the school and build the program. I’m going to have to build the brand of Lakewood High School football.” 

The Piners only had 27 players on last year’s team and 11 of them were seniors. Barring any transfers in this modern era of high school football, they will return sophomore quarterback Abel Martinez, a multi-sport athlete who blossomed into a baseball star this spring. 

“There is talent there,” Orwick said. “We got to get in the weight room and work on technique. Coming from a middle school that hasn’t had a (football) program, there’s going to be a lot of teaching and a lot of learning. We’ll start with the basics and build up from there.” 

Orwick is one of four new head coaches in the Shore, joining Brick Memorial’s James Mahoney, Southern’s Matt Abbato and Raritan’s Chris Damian. 

LJ Clark: ‘I’m Walking Away With My Head Held High’

Clark’s surprising ouster came after he said he found out the night before the Board of Education meeting that he would not be brought back. He said he was sent a text message by Stead at 9 p.m. saying the Board was “going in a different direction” and thanking him for his years as coach. 

The 1999 Lakewood graduate continues to work in the district as an attendance officer at the middle school. 

“Nothing stuns me at Lakewood. I just feel heartbroken for the kids,” Clark said about the decision. “I did it for them. I helped change kids’ lives, and they changed my life.” 

“I’m very proud of what I did there,” he continued. “I’m walking away with my head held high. I tried my best at Lakewood. I hope people appreciated it. I’ll never say anything bad about Lakewood. I wish their program the best.” 

Clark’s son, Dante, a sophomore on the football team, spoke at the Board of Education meeting during the public comment period in defense of his father, asking why they were moving on from a coach who has been part of Lakewood for his entire life to hire a coach who is new to the district. He also questioned why the administration was making the move so late in the offseason. 

Clark took over for the legendary Warren Wolf in 2011 as the program tried to dig its way out of a hole that included a 33-game losing streak that ended in 2010 under Wolf. Clark brought stability and competitiveness to a program that had frequently cycled through coaches and teetered on the brink of insolvency. 

He had a career record of 60-90 at a program that was often struggling for numbers and resources. The Piners, who went 3-7 last season, made seven straight state playoff appearances from 2012-17, and their only two state playoff wins since 1986 have come under Clark. He also coached several all-time Lakewood greats, including Chapelle Russell, Tyrice Beverette, Amir Tyler and most recently record-setting quarterback Rahmel Anderson. 

Clark is the latest veteran coach in the Shore Conference who will not be returning this fall. Southern legend Chuck Donohue Sr. retired after 52 seasons as a head coach at four different programs, Brick Memorial’s Walt Currie hung it up after 19 seasons after the Mustangs won an NJSIAA sectional title, and Raritan’s Anthony Petruzzi, who led the Rockets to one of their two state titles in program history, stepped down after 16 seasons. 

The longest-tenured coach in the Shore is Lacey legend Lou Vircillo, who has been the only head coach in school history. He is entering his 46th season this fall.

Scott Stump is the football editor and a reporter for Shore Sports Insider. He first started covering Shore Conference football in 1999 and has covered basketball, baseball and seemingly every other Shore Conference sport at some point. 

Email: scottstump25@gmail.com