Danny Lee Ford(born April 2, 1948) is an American formercollege footballplayer and coach. He played college football at theUniversity of Alabamafrom 1967 to 1969. He then served as the head football coach atClemson Universityfrom 1978 to 1989 and at theUniversity of Arkansasfrom 1993 to 1997, compiling a career record of 122–59–5. During his 12 seasons as head coach of theClemson Tigers,he captured fiveACCtitles and won sixbowl games.Ford's1981 Clemson teamcompleted a 12–0 season with a win in theOrange Bowland was named the consensusnational champion.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 2, 1948 Gadsden, Alabama,U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1967–1969 | Alabama |
| Position(s) | Offensive tackle |
| Coaching career (HCunless noted) | |
| 1973 | Alabama(OL) |
| 1974–1976 | Virginia Tech(OL) |
| 1977–1978 | Clemson(OL) |
| 1978–1989 | Clemson |
| 1993–1997 | Arkansas |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 122–59–5 |
| Bowls | 6–3 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 1national(1981) 5ACC(1981–1982, 1986–1988) 1SEC Western Division(1995) | |
| Awards | |
| |
| College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 2017 (profile) | |
Early career
editAfter graduating fromGadsden High SchoolinGadsden, Alabamain 1966, Ford was an All-SECselection underPaul "Bear" Bryantat theUniversity of Alabama,where he played in three bowl games. He received a bachelor's degree in industrial arts in 1970 and a master's degree in special education in 1971 from Alabama. Ford coached as an assistant at Alabama andVirginia Techbefore joiningCharley Pell's staff at Clemson.
Clemson
editPell left for theUniversity of Floridaafter the end of the 1978 season, and Ford was named his successor. He led the Tigers in the1978 Gator Bowl,defeatingOhio State,17–15. That game is more remembered, however, for an incident in which Buckeye coachWoody Hayespunched Clemson nose guard Charlie Bauman. Hayes was fired the next day.
In 1981, Ford led Clemson to a 12–0 record and the national championship—the first national title in the school's 98-year history. They won the title by defeatingNebraskain the1982 Orange Bowl.Nebraska was the third top-10 team upended by the Tigers that year, the others being defending national championGeorgiaandNorth Carolina.(All three of these teams remained ranked in the top 10 at the end of the season in the final poll.) As of the 2023 season, Ford is still the youngest coach to win a national championship, doing so at age 33.[1]Just days after the 1982 season ended, however, the Tigers were found guilty of recruiting violations. While most of them occurred under Pell, the NCAA found they had continued under Ford. The Tigers were barred from bowl games in 1982 and 1983, and kicked off live television in 1983 and 1984.
Ford didn't take long to recover from the probation, and won three straightACCtitles from 1986 and 1988. In 1989, Clemson registered a 10–2 season and top-12 national ranking for the fourth straight season.[2]Ford closed his career with a 27–7 win overWest Virginia(and theirAll-AmericaquarterbackMajor Harris) in the Gator Bowl. In the decade of the 1980s, Clemson had the nation's fifth-highest winning percentage.
While at Clemson, Ford defeated a number of coaches later inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame,includingDan Devine,Joe Paterno,Tom Osborne,Barry Switzer,Bobby Bowden,Vince Dooley,Don Nehlen,andWoody Hayes.
Ford resigned on January 18, 1990, after a falling out with Clemson administration. He was subsequently cleared in an NCAA investigation that also was announced around that time.[3]
Ford compiled a 96–29–4 (.760) record at Clemson, including a 6–2 bowl record.[4]At the time of his resignation, he was the second-winningest coach in school history, behind onlyFrank Howard–a distinction he would maintain until 2017, when he was passed by current coachDabo Swinney.He was the third winningest coach in the country on a percentage basis after the 1989 season. Ford also coached 21 All-Americans and 41 players who went on to play in theNFL,during his 11 seasons at Clemson.
Arkansas
editJoe Kinesbrought Ford to theUniversity of Arkansasin 1992 to help with the clean-up followingFrank Broyles' firing ofJack Crowe(Ford's former offensive coordinator at Clemson) after a loss toThe Citadel.This immediately led to speculation that Ford would be named head coach on a permanent basis. The speculation bore fruit after the season, when Ford was named head coach. He led Arkansas to an SEC West championship in 1995 on the legs ofMadre Hilland the defensive genius ofJoe Lee Dunn,after emerging from two years under Crowe. However, this was one of only two winning seasons the Razorbacks notched in Ford's tenure. Broyles fired Ford following back-to-back 4–7 campaigns. Ford finished 26–30–1 in five seasons with the Razorbacks.
It was ironic that Ford ended up at Arkansas, since his replacement at Clemson was former Razorback head coachKen Hatfield,who had had his own falling out with Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles. Hatfield took the Clemson job in January 1990, less than a week after Ford resigned, without even visiting the campus.
Ford proved to be a solid recruiter, as his replacement at Arkansas,Houston Nutt,went on to win 17 games in the 1998 (9–3) and 1999 (8–4) seasons combined, to include a 1998 SEC West co-championship and a Cotton Bowl championship on January 1, 2000, with a victory over Texas. Both of those squads included players Ford had recruited to Arkansas.[5]
Family
editFord and his wife, Deborah, have four children, Jennifer, Ashleigh, Elizabeth, and Lee. They currently reside inCentral, South Carolina.
Head coaching record
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clemson Tigers(Atlantic Coast Conference)(1978–1989) | |||||||||
| 1978 | Clemson | 1–0[n 1] | [n 1] | [n 1] | WGator | 7 | 6 | ||
| 1979 | Clemson | 8–4 | 4–2 | T–2nd | LPeach | ||||
| 1980 | Clemson | 6–5 | 2–4 | T–4th | |||||
| 1981 | Clemson | 12–0 | 6–0 | 1st | WOrange | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1982 | Clemson | 9–1–1 | 6–0 | 1st | 8 | ||||
| 1983 | Clemson | 9–1–1 | 7–0 | 1st | 11 | ||||
| 1984 | Clemson | 7–4 | 5–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 1985 | Clemson | 6–6 | 4–3 | 4th | LIndependence | ||||
| 1986 | Clemson | 8–2–2 | 5–1–1 | 1st | WGator | 19 | 17 | ||
| 1987 | Clemson | 10–2 | 6–1 | 1st | WFlorida Citrus | 10 | 12 | ||
| 1988 | Clemson | 10–2 | 6–1 | 1st | WFlorida Citrus | 8 | 9 | ||
| 1989 | Clemson | 10–2 | 5–2 | 3rd | WGator | 11 | 12 | ||
| Clemson: | 96–29–4 | 56–16–1 | |||||||
| Arkansas Razorbacks(Southeastern Conference)(1993–1997) | |||||||||
| 1993 | Arkansas | 6–4–1 | 4–3–1 | 3rd(Western) | |||||
| 1994 | Arkansas | 4–7 | 2–6 | T–4th(Western) | |||||
| 1995 | Arkansas | 8–5 | 6–3 | 1st(Western) | LCarquest | ||||
| 1996 | Arkansas | 4–7 | 2–6 | T–5th(Western) | |||||
| 1997 | Arkansas | 4–7 | 2–6 | T–5th(Western) | |||||
| Arkansas: | 26–30–1 | 16–24–1 | |||||||
| Total: | 122–59–5 | ||||||||
| National championshipConference titleConference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Notes
edit- ^abcCharley Pellcoached the first 11 games of the season.
References
edit- ^"Danny Ford, Clemson Football Former Head Coach".
- ^"1989 Clemson Tigers Schedule and Results".College Football at Sports-Reference.RetrievedJune 20,2024.
- ^Josh Peter (December 3, 2015)."How Danny Ford went from Clemson legend to out of college football".USA Today.
- ^"Clemson Tigers Bowls".College Football at Sports-Reference.RetrievedJune 20,2024.
- ^"Houston Nutt Steps Down As Razorback Football Coach".Arkansas Razorbacks.November 7, 2014.