Danny Ford
Encyclopedia
Danny Lee Ford is a former American football
player and coach. He played college football
at the University of Alabama
from 1967 to 1969. He served as the head football coach at Clemson University
in South Carolina
from 1978 to 1989 and at the University of Arkansas
from 1993 to 1997, compiling a career record of 122–59–5. During his 12 seasons as head coach of the Clemson Tigers
, he captured five Atlantic Coast Conference
titles and won six bowl game
s. Ford's 1981 Clemson team
completed a 12–0 season with a win in the Orange Bowl
and was named the consensus national champion
.
in Gadsden, Alabama
in 1966, Ford was an All-SEC
selection under Paul "Bear" Bryant
at the University 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 and Virginia Tech
before joining Charley Pell
's staff at Clemson.
after the end of the 1978 season, and Ford was named his successor. He led the Tigers in the 1978 Gator Bowl
, defeating Ohio State
, 17–15. That game is more remembered, however, for an incident in which Buckeye coach Woody Hayes
punched 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 defeating Nebraska
in the 1982 Orange Bowl
. Nebraska was the third top-10 team upended by the Tigers that year, the others being defending national champion Georgia and North Carolina
. As of the 2010 season, Ford is still the youngest coach to win a national championship. He had turned 34 two months before the Orange Bowl. Just days after the 1982 season ended, however, the Tigers were found guilty of massive 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. However, since no active players were involved in the violations, Clemson was allowed to keep its national title.
Ford didn't take long to recover from the probation, and won three straight ACC
titles from 1986 and 1988. In 1989, Clemson registered a 10–2 season and top-12 national ranking for the fourth straight season. Ford closed his career with a 27–7 win over West Virginia
(and their All-America
quarterback Major 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 the College Football Hall of Fame
, including Joe Paterno
, Tom Osborne, Barry Switzer
, Bobby Bowden
, Vince Dooley
, and Woody 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.
Ford compiled a 96–29–4 (.760) record at Clemson, including a 6–2 bowl record. He is second on the school's wins list, behind only Frank Howard. 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 the NFL
, during his 11 seasons at Clemson.
brought Ford to the University of Arkansas
in 1992 to help with the clean-up following Frank Broyles
' firing Jack Crowe
(Ford's former offensive coordinator at Clemson) after a loss to The 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 of Madre Hill
and the defensive genius of Joe 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.
area.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player and coach. He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
from 1967 to 1969. He served as the head football coach at Clemson University
Clemson University
Clemson University is an American public, coeducational, land-grant, sea-grant, research university located in Clemson, South Carolina, United States....
in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
from 1978 to 1989 and at the University of Arkansas
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
from 1993 to 1997, compiling a career record of 122–59–5. During his 12 seasons as head coach of the Clemson Tigers
Clemson Tigers football
The Clemson Tigers football team is an American football team from Clemson University in South Carolina. It competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference...
, he captured five Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
titles and won six bowl game
Bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is commonly considered to refer to one of a number of post-season college football games. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in players' career totals and the games were mostly considered to be exhibition games involving a payout to participating...
s. Ford's 1981 Clemson team
1981 Clemson Tigers football team
The 1981 Clemson Tigers football team represented Clemson University in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Tigers were led by head coach Danny Ford and played their home games in Memorial Stadium...
completed a 12–0 season with a win in the Orange Bowl
1982 Orange Bowl
The 1982 edition of the Orange Bowl featured the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and the Clemson Tigers.Clemson, coached by Danny Ford, came into the game unbeaten at 11-0 and ranked #1 and was attempting to win its first national championship...
and was named the consensus national champion
NCAA Division I FBS National Football Championship
A college football national championship in the highest level of collegiate play in the United States, currently the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , is a designation awarded annually by various third-party organizations to their selection of the best...
.
Early career
After graduating from Gadsden High SchoolGadsden City High School
Gadsden City High School is a public high school, located in Gadsden, Alabama, United States serving approximately 1500 students in grades nine through twelve. The school is the only high school in the Gadsden City School System...
in Gadsden, Alabama
Gadsden, Alabama
The city of Gadsden is the county seat of Etowah County in the U.S. state of Alabama, and it is located about 65 miles northeast of Birmingham, Alabama. It is the primary city of the Gadsden Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 103,459. Gadsden is closely associated with the...
in 1966, Ford was an All-SEC
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
selection under Paul "Bear" Bryant
Bear Bryant
Paul William "Bear" Bryant was an American college football player and coach. He was best known as the longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team. During his 25-year tenure as Alabama's head coach, he amassed six national championships and thirteen conference championships...
at the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
, 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 and Virginia Tech
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known as Virginia Tech , is a public land-grant university with the main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia with other research and educational centers throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and internationally.Founded in...
before joining Charley Pell
Charley Pell
Charles Byron "Charley" Pell was an American college football player and coach. Pell was an Alabama native and an alumnus of the University of Alabama, where he played college football. He is most notably remembered as the head coach of the Clemson University and the University of Florida...
's staff at Clemson.
Clemson
Pell left for the University of FloridaUniversity of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
after the end of the 1978 season, and Ford was named his successor. He led the Tigers in the 1978 Gator Bowl
1978 Gator Bowl
The 1978 Gator Bowl was a college football bowl game played between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Clemson Tigers on December 29, 1978.This game proved to be coach Woody Hayes' last game at OSU. With just over two minutes left in the game, OSU trailed 17-15...
, defeating Ohio State
1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football team
The 1978 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the college football season of 1978-1979. The Buckeyes compiled a 7–4–1 record, including the 1978 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida, where they lost 17–15 to the Clemson...
, 17–15. That game is more remembered, however, for an incident in which Buckeye coach Woody Hayes
Woody Hayes
Wayne Woodrow "Woody" Hayes was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Denison University , Miami University , and Ohio State University , compiling a career college football record of 238–72–10.During his 28 seasons as the head coach of the Ohio...
punched 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 defeating Nebraska
1981 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team
The 1981 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.-Schedule:...
in the 1982 Orange Bowl
1982 Orange Bowl
The 1982 edition of the Orange Bowl featured the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and the Clemson Tigers.Clemson, coached by Danny Ford, came into the game unbeaten at 11-0 and ranked #1 and was attempting to win its first national championship...
. Nebraska was the third top-10 team upended by the Tigers that year, the others being defending national champion Georgia and North Carolina
North Carolina Tar Heels football
The North Carolina Tar Heels football team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in collegiate level football. In Carolina’s first 121 seasons of football competition, the Tar Heels have compiled a record of 646–488–54, a winning percentage of .566...
. As of the 2010 season, Ford is still the youngest coach to win a national championship. He had turned 34 two months before the Orange Bowl. Just days after the 1982 season ended, however, the Tigers were found guilty of massive 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. However, since no active players were involved in the violations, Clemson was allowed to keep its national title.
Ford didn't take long to recover from the probation, and won three straight ACC
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
titles from 1986 and 1988. In 1989, Clemson registered a 10–2 season and top-12 national ranking for the fourth straight season. Ford closed his career with a 27–7 win over West Virginia
West Virginia Mountaineers
The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams of West Virginia University. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and the Big East Conference. On July 1, 2012 the Mountaineers will switch conferences, moving from the Big East to the Big 12, becoming...
(and their All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
quarterback Major Harris
Major Harris
Major Harris is a former college football quarterback for West Virginia University during the 1980s. Harris was a 1989 All American and finished third and fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1988 and 1989, respectively. He was also the ECAC Player of the Year in 1988 and 1989...
) 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 the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
, including Joe Paterno
Joe Paterno
Joseph Vincent "Joe" Paterno is a former college football coach who was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for 46 years from 1966 through 2011. Paterno, nicknamed "JoePa," holds the record for the most victories by an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision football coach with...
, Tom Osborne, Barry Switzer
Barry Switzer
Barry Switzer is a former football coach, active in the college and professional ranks between 1962 and 1997. He has one of the highest winning percentages of any college football coach in history, and is one of only two head coaches to win both a college football national championship and a...
, Bobby Bowden
Bobby Bowden
Robert Cleckler "Bobby" Bowden is a retired college football coach. He coached the Florida State Seminoles football team from the 1976 to 2009 seasons...
, Vince Dooley
Vince Dooley
Vincent Joseph Dooley was the head football coach and athletic director at the University of Georgia. During his 25 year coaching career at UGA, Dooley compiled a 201–77–10 record. His teams won six Southeastern Conference titles and the 1980 national championship...
, and Woody Hayes
Woody Hayes
Wayne Woodrow "Woody" Hayes was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Denison University , Miami University , and Ohio State University , compiling a career college football record of 238–72–10.During his 28 seasons as the head coach of the Ohio...
.
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.
Ford compiled a 96–29–4 (.760) record at Clemson, including a 6–2 bowl record. He is second on the school's wins list, behind only Frank Howard. 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 the NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
, during his 11 seasons at Clemson.
Arkansas
Joe KinesJoe Kines
-External links:...
brought Ford to the University of Arkansas
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
in 1992 to help with the clean-up following Frank Broyles
Frank Broyles
John Franklin Broyles is a former American football player and coach, athletics administrator, and broadcaster. He served as the head football coach the University of Missouri in 1957 and at the University of Arkansas from 1958 to 1976...
' firing Jack Crowe
Jack Crowe
Jack Crowe is an American football coach. He is currently the head coach at Jacksonville State University in Alabama, a position he has held since 2000. Crowe served as the head football coach at the University of Arkansas from 1990 until he resigned one game into the 1992 season after an upset...
(Ford's former offensive coordinator at Clemson) after a loss to The Citadel
The Citadel (military college)
The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, also known simply as The Citadel, is a state-supported, comprehensive college located in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. It is one of the six senior military colleges in the United States...
. 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 of Madre Hill
Madre Hill
Madre Hill is a former American football running back, playing last for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. Considered one of the greatest running backs to come out of the University of Arkansas, Hill was named 1st Team All-SEC in 1995 and was named to the Razorbacks' All-time...
and the defensive genius of Joe Lee Dunn
Joe Lee Dunn
-External links:* *...
, 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.
Family
Ford and his wife, Deborah, have four children, Jennifer, Ashleigh, Elizabeth, and Lee. They currently reside in the Clemson, South CarolinaClemson, South Carolina
Clemson is a college town located in Pickens County in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 11,939 at the 2000 census and center of an urban cluster with a total population of 42,199...
area.