Clifford Story, Jr. was born and raised in Lafayette, Alabama where he played football, basketball, and baseball for the Lafayette Bulldogs. The coaching bug bit him early while he was serving as the ball boy for the Bulldogs head football coach Ike Grant as a grade-schooler in his hometown. Grant became Story's mentor and the two men still remain close to this day. During his senior year, Story led the Dawgs to the state semifinals (still the deepest playoff run in school history). Story played quarterback and linebacker while earning All-State honors at both positions his senior year of high school.

Story went to Jacksonville State University on an athletic scholarship from 1992-96, where he played football and baseball for the Gamecocks. While at JSU, he played for two legends in Bill Burgess (football) and Rudy Abbott (baseball).

After earning his bachelor's and master's from JSU player Story became Coach Story as he began his career as a coach as an assistant at nearby Weaver High School. From Weaver, he moved to the Atlanta metro area and became an assistant at Riverdale High School from 2001-2004 under Rodney Hackney.

In 2004, Coach Story was looking to get closer to home and returned to East Alabama to serve on Robert Maddox's staff at Auburn High School. He stayed on the Auburn staff after Maddox retired and was instrumental in helping head coach Tim Carter lead Auburn to some of their most successful years in school history.

In the spring of 2009, Story decided it was time to lead his own program. After being associated with so many successful programs and high-quality coaches over the years, he believed he was ready to take the reins at Lanett High School as their head football coach and athletic director. With Story at the helm of the Panthers' athletic department, they have won seven state championships from 2010 to 2019.

The Panthers have won two in track, three in basketball, and two in football. Also during his time at Lanett, the Panthers have had nearly 70 student-athletes sign athletic scholarships in track, basketball, and football. That is even more impressive when you consider Lanett's enrollment has hovered just above 200 students since his arrival at the small East Alabama School. Story and the Panthers brought home the AHSAA 2A State Championship in 2017 with a perfect 15-0 record, and followed that with another perfect title season in 2019. These are Lanett's only state football titles in the playoff era.

His football resume at Lanett includes, but is not limited to:
AHSAA State Champions 2017 and 2019
Region championships in 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
Valley-Times News Coach of the year in 2013, 2017, 2019
Opelika-Auburn News Coach of the Year in 2017, 2019
ALFCA state 2A Coach of the Year in 2012
Coached in North-South game in 2013
Coached in Alabama-Mississippi game in 2018