Cliff attended Foothill High School where he was the first four-time varsity letterman at the school. He then attended Santa Clara University, UCLA and CSU Fullerton. He placed 5th in the Junior Nationals Freestyle Wrestling Tournament while at Santa Clara. When attending college, Cliff started coaching high school wrestling at Santa Clara, Van Nuys and Foothill high schools. He started a youth program at the Tustin Boys' Club. After finishing his degrees in Math and Economics, he became the Assistant Wrestling Coach at Laguna Hills High School with Head Coach Del Schwartz. Cliff took over as Head Wrestling Coach in 1984, building the team into an Orange County powerhouse -- winning 23 consecutive league championships (a county record), seven CIF-Southern Section Division Championships and three CIF-SS Dual Meet Championships. His teams have also been CIF-SS Division or Dual Meet runners­ up eight times. His combined dual match record as Head Coach is 420-69, and his teams have won 93 tournaments. Cliff has coached 185 league champions, 27 CIF champions, 33 State qualifiers, and 8 State Championship placers. He also coached the LHHS girls' softball team to a CIF Championship in 1987, and the LHHS boys' swimming team to a CIF Championship in 1990. Cliff was named Orange County's Wrestling Coach of the Year six times. His teams have been selected the Orange County Team of the Year in 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. He founded the Hawkeye Wrestling Club for youth in 1995, serving as one of its directors and coaches since then. The club has produced freestyle, Greco-Roman and folkstyle champions on a state and national level. Cliff has served as President of the Orange County Wrestling Coaches Associ­ation for 12 years, helping to organize the county's annual All-Star Match, Awards Banquet, summer wrestling league, and Hall of Fame. He is now a member of the CIF Advisory Board for wrestling.