Hill Watch...96 days!!!

CBProf®

Hall of Famer [23821]

TigerPulse: 100%

Posts: 974

Joined: 5/11/17

96 - Danny Ford Earned 96 Wins as Head Coach for Clemson

May 27, 2024, 12:07 AM

At one time Clemson fans (and perhaps players) had much lower expectations. A winning season that culminated with a bowl win was once considered a good season. The possibility of a national championship seemed too unrealistic to be a possibility.

Coach Danny Lee Ford, however, changed that. Coach Ford taught Clemson fans that greatness was achievable. And that Clemson fans should always aspire for the biggest prizes in college football.

The Charlotte Observer summed it up well:

“Long before Clemson was a college football superpower, Danny Ford led the Tigers to their first-ever national championship.”

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/scott-fowler/article263353988.html

Before Clemson:

From 1966-1969, Danny Ford played OL at Alabama under Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. According to Wikipedia, Ford was All-SEC (it just means more you know) in 1966.

He was an assistant coach at Alabama and then at Virgina Tech before coming to Clemson as an OL Coach under HC Charley Pell.

At Clemson:

Memorable Start:

Ford joined Pell’s staff at Clemson in 1977. Pell left Clemson to coach Florida after Clemson’s 10-1 regular season in 1978. The Clemson players supported Coach Ford. According to ClemsonTigers.com:

“After Pell resigned, Ford had a strong backing from the players. Joe Bostic was among 20 players on the 1978 team who went to a Board of Trustees meeting at Sikes Hall the weekend after Pell resigned.
…
“We had a letter that was signed by most of the players giving support to Coach Ford.”

https://clemsontigers.com/danny-ford-2021-program-story/

Ford was hired as HC before Clemson’s Gator Bowl against Ohio State and its legendary coach, Woody Hayes. His first game as HC was a particularly memorable one. Ohio St was driving late in the game with Clemson leading 17-15. After Clemson DL Charlie Baughman intercepted OSU’s Art Schlichter to clinch the Clemson win, OSU HC punched Baughman on the sideline.

That did not go over well with Ford! According to the State:

“Ford saw a fight and ran across the field to break it up.
…
Back on his own sideline, Ford asked official Butch Lambert what had happened. Told that one of Ohio State’s coaches had hit one of his players, he said, ‘Dang. Even I don’t do that!’” Lambert told Ford OSU was being hit with two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

Angry, Ford responded, “Well, Butch, I think I’m going to make some history and take our team off the field and quit. Cut the TV off.”

“He said, ‘Son, you want some good advice?’” Lambert told Ford. “‘If you don’t do something stupid, you’re going to win this ballgame.’

I said, ‘Yes sir, Mr. Lambert. Carry on!”

After the next play, Ohio State got another 15-yard penalty, and Clemson ran out the clock.”

https://www.thestate.com/sports/article13831559.html

Rising to Greatness:

In the 1981 season, Danny Ford became the youngest head coach to win a college football national title.

The magical season included a win over defending national champion, UGa. It included a win at Top 10 ranked UNC. And the season ended with a win over Top 5 ranked Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.

Danny Ford had led Clemson to achieve greatness that went BEYOND what many fans had dared to dream!

Maintaining Greatness:

Ford continued as Clemson HC through the 1980s – a very successful decade for the Tigers. Under Ford, Clemson took on the best teams/programs that college football had to offer – and won more than its share of those games! According to USA Today:

“Few programs were winning like Clemson was under Ford.

From 1979 to 1989, his teams went 96-29-4, won five ACC titles and looked in position to compete for another national championship. Then Ford lost a power struggle with Clemson’s administration and, with the football program facing NCAA sanctions for recruiting violations for the second time in Ford’s 11-year coaching tenure, he stepped down. In those 11 years, Ford had the third-best winning percentage among active coaches, behind Nebraska’s Tom Osborne and Penn State’s Joe Paterno, and was on pace to rank among the all-time greats.

“He would have been right there at the top,” said Grant Teaff, the retired Baylor football coach who later became executive director of the American Football Coaches Association. “He would’ve come away as one of our very most successful coaches.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/acc/2015/12/03/how-danny-ford-went-clemson-legend-out-college-football/76721310/

According to Sports Illustrated:

“Ford had a unique ability to motivate his players. He was a disciplinarian who worked his team hard. That hard work and respect went hand-in-hand in his ability to get the Tigers ready for highly-ranked opponents led by legendary coaches. In his 11 years as head coach, he led the Tigers to a 26-8-1 record over coaches who are now in the Hall of Fame.”

https://www.si.com/college/clemson/football/danny-ford-a-living-legend

Ford’s success at Clemson was truly outstanding!

Danny Ford (129 Games: 1978-1989):
- 96-29-4 (.760)
- 5 Conference Championships
- 1 National Championship

An Ending Filled with Protests:

After the 1989 season, Clemson’s third straight 10-2 season, Danny Ford resigned approximately two weeks after Clemson was reprimanded by the NCAA for the second time under Ford. The NCAA concerns served as a convenient argument for Ford and Clemson to part ways. But, there were reports that Ford and the University administration were at odds over how much support the football program should receive – including the use of separate housing for players. Other rumors also progressed through the fanbase.

Although it was Ford’s decision to resign, the players – much like the fans – were not happy about Ford’s departure from Clemson. According to Desert News:

“Clemson's football team will boycott the 1990 season unless Danny Ford is reinstated as coach or one of his assistants is named as his successor, players said Saturday.

"Until the team is satisfied, until we get an explanation and get what we want, our intentions are to boycott this season," tight end Stacy Fields said during a news conference at Mauldin Hall, the university's athletic dormitory. Fields was joined by teammates Vance Hammond, Eric Harmon and Scott Beville. They said the team voted unanimously for the boycott Friday night.

"Our demands ain't very hard," Hammond said. "We ain't asking much in our opinion, but right now we don't feel like we have an opinion. We feel like we're really lost.

"We want Coach Ford back, and if not we want them to sit down and give us reasons why. It hurts, and it hurts bad."

https://www.deseret.com/1990/1/21/18842706/clemson-gridders-promise-boycott-in-1990-unless-demands-are-met/

Clemson hired Ken Hatfield. The players returned. The program, however, seemed to lose a bit of its magic.

After Clemson:

Ford worked on his farm in the Clemson area after he resigned. The farm suited him. According to the Charlotte Observer, Coach/Farmer Ford stated:

“As a head football coach, you’ve always got somebody to get on to or fuss at. As a farmer, when you mess up, it’s your fault. You tear a tractor up, then you did it.”

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/scott-fowler/article263353988.html

But, he still had coaching in his blood so he returned to the game. As HC at Arkansas from 1993-1997, Ford finished 26-30-1. He led Arkansas to the SEC Championship game in 1995.

Apparently Ford had other opportunities to coach. Also, according to USA Today:

In November 2004, he got a call from Terry Holland, then athletics director at East Carolina. Holland and Ford had been friends for more than two decades, but this was about business. Holland asked Ford if he’d consider coaching the Pirates.
…
“We thought it was a long shot, but we thought it was at least worth exploring,” Holland told USA TODAY Sports. “He seemed to fit East Carolina in terms of the kind of school we are and the kind of football program we wanted as well.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/acc/2015/12/03/how-danny-ford-went-clemson-legend-out-college-football/76721310/

Ford would later express surprise over how college football players were treated in more recent years. USA Today said this about Ford:

“He expressed disbelief that Missouri football players, with the backing of their coach no less, would boycott until the school president resigned. Or that a star player Ford did not want to identify could publicly criticize his coaches and not be disciplined.

“He wouldn’t have the pleasure to play again if I was coaching,” Ford said. “We’d have his equipment out of the room before then.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/acc/2015/12/03/how-danny-ford-went-clemson-legend-out-college-football/76721310/

Danny Ford was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2017!

Great video on Coach Ford (Thank you: Shadow of Death Valley)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZxLOft2p5Q

flag link

military_tech

thumb_down

thumb_up

Clemson: Academic Excellence! Athletic Excellence!

North Carolina Highway 96 is a 112 mile rural state highway that runs from the south end at NC 55 near Newton Grove to the north end at SR 49 and VA SR 96 at the Virginia state line and going through or near at least 7 other towns. Parachute ripcord inventor Georgia Ann "Tiny" Broadwick was from Oxford on NC 96. Necessity is the mother of invention. Remember the Ripley's Believe It or Not history facts in the daily Greenville News? I vaguely remember this being one of them.

Ninety Six is a town of 2,000 in Greenwood County, South Carolina, 8 miles east of the city of Greenwood. The origin of the name is an unsolved mystery. Legend has it early traders thought it was 96 miles from the old Cherokee settlement of Keowee based on the number and distance between creeks. Another theory is that 6 creeks came out of the Saluda River and 9 creeks came out of the Savannah River and these 9 and 6 creeks were landmarks for the area for Cherokees and traders. Ninety Six was a frontier town established about 1730. From May 22 to June 18 of 1781, Major General Nathaniel Greene led 1,000 Continental Army troops in a siege on Star Fort with 550 Loyalists. Star Fort is on the National Register of Historic Places. A July 4 celebration called the Festival of Stars has been held in the park since 2008.

Hill Watch...96 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...96 days!!!

Go Tigers!***

Re: Hill Watch...96 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...96 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...96 days!!!

Nice Jedi!***

96 - Danny Ford Earned 96 Wins as Head Coach for Clemson

Re: 96 - Danny Ford Earned 96 Wins as Head Coach for Clemson

Re: 96 - Danny Ford Earned 96 Wins as Head Coach for Clemson

Re: Hill Watch...96 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...96 days!!!

Ninety Six is 5 miles from my home

Re: Hill Watch...96 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...96 days!!!

Lets Go Tigers !***

Lets Go Tigers !***

Re: Hill Watch...96 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...96 days!!!

Slowly but Shirley!!! We're getting there!!

Re: Slowly but Shirley!!! We're getting there!!

Re: Slowly but Shirley!!! We're getting there!!

Good morning MfO!

Re: Hill Watch...96 days!!!

I hereby annoint this porker poast as Quality Memorial Day Content!

Re: Hill Watch...96 days!!!

Wooo

And this one, as long as there continues to be NO HOO!

Re: Hill Watch...96 days!!!

And this one! Call me Butta, 'cause I'm on a ROLL!

Re: Hill Watch...96 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...96 days!!!

Go Tigers!***

Re: Hill Watch...96 days!!!

Roar! And Remember.......

Re: Hill Watch...96 days!!!

Re: Hill Watch...96 days!!!

Go Tigers***

Re: Hill Watch...96 days!!!

Are you sure?

Ashley Sheppard Donnell Washington Dawson Zimmerman day!

TigerBoard POTD