Danny Lee Ford (born April 2, 1948) is an American former

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player and coach. He played college football at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

from 1967 to 1969. He then served as the head football coach at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

from 1978 to 1989 and at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

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 ACC titles and won six

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

s. Ford's 1981 Clemson team completed a 12–0 season with a win in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

and was named the consensus national champion.

Early career

After graduating from Gadsden High School in

Gadsden, Alabama Gadsden is the county seat of Etowah County in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is located on the Coosa River about northeast of Birmingham and southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is the primary city of the Gadsden Metropolitan Statist ...

in 1966, Ford was an All- SEC selection under Paul "Bear" Bryant at the

, 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 The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

before joining Charley Pell's staff at Clemson.

Clemson

Pell left for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

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 The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

, 17–15. That game is more remembered, however, for an incident in which Buckeye coach

Woody Hayes Wayne Woodrow "Woody" Hayes (February 14, 1913 – March 12, 1987) was an American college football coach and player. He served as the head football coach at Denison University from 1946 to 1948, Miami University in Oxford, Ohio from 1949 to 195 ...

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 Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

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 Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. (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. 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 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 West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

(and their

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

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 The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

, including

Dan Devine Daniel John Devine (December 23, 1924 – May 9, 2002) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Arizona State University from 1955 to 1957, the University of Missouri from 1958 to 1970, and the Universi ...

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn ...

Tom Osborne Thomas William Osborne (born February 23, 1937) is an American former football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and politician from Nebraska. He served as head football coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 1973 to 1997 (25 sea ...

, Barry Switzer, Bobby Bowden, Vince Dooley, Don Nehlen, and

. 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. At the time of his resignation, he was the second-winningest coach in school history, behind only Frank Howard–a distinction he would maintain until 2017, when he was passed by current coach Dabo 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 the NFL, during his 11 seasons at Clemson.

Arkansas

Joe Kines brought Ford to the

in 1992 to help with the clean-up following Frank Broyles' firing of 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. It was ironic that Ford ended up at Arkansas, since his replacement at Clemson was former Razorback head coach Ken 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.

Family

Ford and his wife, Deborah, have four children, Jennifer, Ashleigh, Elizabeth, and Lee. They currently reside in Central, South Carolina.

Head coaching record

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Danny 1947 births Living people American football offensive tackles Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches Alabama Crimson Tide football players Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Clemson Tigers football coaches Virginia Tech Hokies football coaches College Football Hall of Fame inductees Coaches of American football from Alabama Players of American football from Gadsden, Alabama