Former Bardstown football coach David Clark explains lure of Lexington Catholic
After nearly three decades as a teacher and football coach at Bardstown, David Clark stepped away from the game in the wake of one of the most successful stretches of his career.
Two seasons prior, Clark led the Tigers to the fifth district title of his 17-year tenure as head coach, finished the regular season undefeated for the second year in a row and went on to win a region championship before falling to Christian Academy-Louisville in the 2022 Class 3A state finals.
Following another district title and an 8-5 record in 2023, Clark stepped down as he neared retirement eligibility as a public school teacher and turned the program over to Justin Grundy, a longtime assistant and Bardstown alumnus.
Now, Clark hopes to build on that success at Lexington Catholic, a place where his faith and football seem to be a “perfect fit.”
“It’s a program that has great tradition, and being able to coach football at a Catholic institution was something that was very intriguing to me,” Clark told the Herald-Leader on Monday after he was announced as the school’s fourth head football coach in five seasons. “I think it’s a program that expects to win. They have pride in it, and they’re going to put a lot of time and energy into the program. You want to be in a place that expects to have the opportunity to be able to contend every year.”
Despite its head coaching turnover in recent years, LexCath has won three straight district titles and two consecutive region championships.
In 2022, Bert Bathiany parlayed a Class 4A district title and the school’s first win over Boyle County in nine tries into a job offer from Cincinnati’s famed Archbishop Moeller that he couldn’t turn down.
Former St. Xavier assistant Nick Baisch took over the Knights in 2023 and led them to back-to-back district and region trophies in Class 3A. Baisch resigned last month to return to his native Louisville and rejoin St. Xavier’s administration.
The Knights have two state championships — a Class 3A title in 2005 and a Class 4A title in 2007. They last reached a state finals in 2015.
“We are very pleased to welcome Coach Clark to our proud football tradition at Lexington Catholic,” school president Rob Rumpke said in a press release Monday. “We’re at an important time in our football program history right now and our vision is to continue to compete for state championships and create outstanding young men.”
Last season, LexCath started 0-6 against a brutal out-of-district schedule before tossing aside its district foes and upsetting No. 2 Bell County on the road in the region finals.
Despite that success, each of the last two campaigns ended in disappointing state semifinals losses to eventual champion Christian Academy-Louisville.
Clark knows the expectations at his new school.
“We’re going to prepare in a manner that we always have a chance — we’re always in contention. We’re always in the topic of conversation,” said Clark, who at the age of 51 has a career record of 131-73 with six seasons of at least 10 wins and 10 winning seasons overall. “I welcome that challenge.”
Clark takes over as Lexington Catholic enters an entirely new Class 3A district thanks to the most recent KHSAA realignment. And it’s one that includes Bardstown, his former school, along with Mercer County, Garrard County and Casey County. LexCath, Bardstown and Mercer County are all coming off back-to-back district titles in their former districts.
“Then on top of that, our sister district is CAL (three-time defending Class 3A champion Christian Academy-Louisville), DeSales and Louisville Central,” Clark said, noting that those “sister district” schools will be lined up against them in the first two rounds of the playoffs. “So yeah, it’s definitely a little bit different path than what it has been in the past couple of years. But the expectations are for you to be able to compete at a very high level. You know, you welcome it, and you welcome playing good teams.”
