Kid Clay

Robert Alva Clay

• School Georgia Institute of Technology

• Born September 20, 1888, Monroe, GA USA
• Died July 6, 1946, Monroe, LA USA

Biographical Information

Kid Clay was a college coach at Georgia Institute of Technology from 1921 to 1931.

Clay graduated from Georgia Tech in 1915. After graduation, he took a position as an experimental engineering instructor at Georgia Tech and was an assistant for both the football and baseball teams where he coached under John Heisman. His career was temporarily placed on hold during World War I. He was a lieutenant in the 82nd Division of the United State Army and saw action during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in the Argonne Forest in France.

When he returned to Georgia Tech, he was hired as an assistant football coach. In 1921, he became the Yellow Jackets head baseball coach.

Clay won three conference championships in his 11 seasons at Georgia Tech. He coached eight future Major Leaguers.

Clay left Georgia Tech after the 1931 season. In the 1940s, he was the head football coach at Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, GA. He passed away of natural causes on July 6, 1946 in a hotel room in Monroe, LA.