 Clifford enjoyed three separate tenures as coach of the Cork senior team, while he also served as a selector in an association that lasted from the 1960s until the 1990s.During that time he was involved in two All-Ireland Championship-winning teams, while he also coached the Cork minor team to the All-Ireland Minor Championship in 1985.Clifford began his hurling career in the locally-organised North Parish Leagues in the 1940s before later coming to prominence at colleges level with the North Monastery.