Early life

Born in Island Falls, Maine, Clifford grew up in Mattawamkeag, Maine, until the third grade, when he moved to Vermont. He played varsity basketball under Gerald Clifford, his father and head coach at North Country Union High School in Newport, Vermont.

Clifford matriculated the University of Maine at Farmington, where he played college basketball for four years. In his final two seasons, he was team captain and was named Best Defensive Player. He graduated with a degree in special education.

Coaching career

After graduating from college, Clifford became a teacher at Woodland High School in Maine. He also gained his first coaching experience at the school, serving as their head coach for two seasons while leading them to two tournaments. He then served as an assistant coach at St. Anselm’s College, Fairfield University, Boston University and Siena College. In 1995, he assumed the head coaching duties at Adelphi University and coached for four seasons under Keith Dickson, leading their team to four appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament, an 86-36 (.705) record and four consecutive 20-win seasons; he was the first coach in the school's history with back-to-back 20-plus win seasons.

Clifford became an NBA assistant coach with the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets under Jeff Van Gundy and quickly developed a reputation as a defensive expert. He then was an assistant for Stan Van Gundy with the Orlando Magic. He considers both the Van Gundy brothers as mentors. He reached the NBA Playoffs in each of his five seasons with Orlando, appearing in the NBA Finals in 2009.

Clifford then joined the Los Angeles Lakers in 2012-13 as an assistant.

Charlotte Bobcats/ Hornets

On May 29, 2013, Clifford was hired by the Charlotte Bobcats to be their head coach.

Clifford implemented a defensive mentality in Charlotte during his first year as head coach turning the Charlotte Bobcats into a top five defensive team when in the years prior to his tenure they ranked near the bottom of the NBA in that category. He led the Bobcats to the 2014 NBA Playoffs in his first year as head coach, during which he coached the Bobcats to a 43-39 record. The two years prior to him joining the Charlotte Bobcats only had a combined total of 28 wins. He was named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for April 2014 after he led the Bobcats to a 7-1 record leading to the playoffs. He finished fourth in Coach of the Year voting in his first year.

Head coaching record

College

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Adelphi Panthers (New York Collegiate Athletic Conference)
1995-96	Adelphi	23-7	17-5	2nd	NCAA D-II First Round
1996-97	Adelphi	21-9	17-5	3rd	NCAA D-II First Round
1997-98	Adelphi	22-8	18-4	3rd	NCAA D-II First Round
1998-99	Adelphi	20-12	14-8	3rd	NCAA D-II Sweet 16
Adelphi University:		86-36 (.705)	66-22
Total:		86-36 (.705)

NBA

Legend
Regular season	G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W-L %	Win-loss %
Post season	PG	Playoff games	PW	Playoff wins	PL	Playoff losses	PW-L %	Playoff win-loss %

Team	Year	G	W	L	W-L%	Finish	PG	PW	PL	PW-L%	Result
Charlotte	2013-14	82	43	39	.524	3rd in Southeast	4	0	4	.000	Lost in First Round
Charlotte	2014-15	82	33	49	.402	4th in Southeast	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
Charlotte	2015-16	82	48	34	.585	3rd in Southeast	7	3	4	.429	Lost in First Round
Career		246	124	122	.502		11	3	8	.273

[ Source: Wikipedia ]