Why Ty Clark III attracted Ivy League football programs after 1,830-yard rushing season
Ty Clark III didn't see last season coming.
The 2022 TSSAA football season was Clark's first as the starting running back at Franklin Road Academy, a team with a new coaching staff coming off a 4-7 season. Clark set a goal of 1,000 rushing yards for the season.
He reached it before October.
FRA finished 10-2 and second in the Division II-AA Middle Region, its only regular-season loss coming to state champion Lipscomb Academy. Clark was named the region's Offensive Player of the Year and earned TSWA All-State honors as well. He ran for 1,830 rushing yards, 28 touchdowns and 9.5 yards per carry.
"I can’t say that I was (expecting it)," Clark said. "But I was happy to see it happen, because it was the result of the hard work we all put in."
That hard work earned Clark, who came into his junior season with offers from Austin Peay and Eastern Kentucky, a surge of attention on the recruiting trail. Since January, the 6-foot, 205-pound tailback has received offers from Colorado State, Miami (Ohio), Navy and Toledo as well as 10 FCS programs.
That includes Dartmouth, Penn, Princeton and Yale — half of the Ivy League. Clark didn't earn those offers because of his football ability alone.
"There's a reason those type of schools recruit our hallways, because they know the type of kids they're going to get," FRA second-year coach Justin Geisinger said. "Ty Clark is the epitome of that."
Going into his senior year, Clark maintains a 4.25 grade-point average. He hopes to study either computer science or mechanical engineering in college.
"As far as a guy that lives our mission, he embodies everything we want him to be, on the field, off the field, in the classroom and in our community," Geisinger said. "I really believe a lot of that trickles onto the field."
While Ivy League football programs do not offer athletic scholarships, those schools are preceded by their reputations, in Clark's view. Having a sterling academic resume is a necessity even to be recruited by the likes of Dartmouth and Penn.
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When weighing Ivy League offers, Clark and his family use a financial calculator to get a rough estimate of how much academic aid he could receive. He's looking to attend a college with not just strong academics, but a football program with a culture that makes him feel "wanted" and "appreciated."
Early in his career, Clark looked up to Lipscomb Academy running back Alex Broome, who's now at Boston College. Clark often worked out with Broome, two years his senior, but the one thing he could never do was beat him to workouts: Broome was already there when Clark would arrive, "probably early."
It's safe to say that, with his 2,166 all-purpose yards and 30 touchdowns last season, some of that work ethic has rubbed off on Clark.
"I really just want to do the best I know I can do and give my best effort," he said, "and try to encourage my team to do the same."
Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA football: Ty Clark III balances academic, athletic success at FRA
