Danny Ford
Now
Career arc
Bowls and playoffs: 5-3
1979Peach BowlL 18-24
1981Orange BowlW 22-15
1985Independence BowlL 13-20
1986Gator BowlW 27-21
1987Florida Citrus BowlW 35-10
1988Florida Citrus BowlW 13-6
1989Gator BowlW 27-7
Arkansas
1995Carquest BowlL 10-20
Stats
Big games
Pick a job to see its years on their own.
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
7-3 against his rivals at Clemson. Just 2-3 against Dick Sheridan.
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
1-4 against his rivals at Arkansas. Winless in 5 tries against Phillip Fulmer.
The big-game ledger
How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.
8-7 against his rivals. Winless in 5 tries against Phillip Fulmer.
Building the roster
Two numbers on how he actually stocks a roster, from signing day to draft day.
Roster ownership
Roster ownership
This coach's entire tenure (1993-1997) predates 2021, when transfer-portal tracking begins in this database. Portal usage cannot be measured for this tenure at all -- this is not the same as '0% portal'.
“His own” means the player arrived while he was head coach; “inherited” means a predecessor brought him in.
The NFL pipeline
The NFL pipeline
players drafted into the NFL off his teams here (a floor — see the note below). None can be traced to who brought them in — there’s no roster record for these players here. 1 went in the first round.
At least 4 — the draft class following his 1995 season is missing from this table entirely.
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | NFL team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | R7.46 | David Sanders | Defensive End |  Oakland Raiders | Estimated |
| 1997 | R5.30 | Anthony Hicks | Linebacker |  Green Bay Packers | Estimated |
| 1994 | R1.26 | Henry Ford | Defensive End |  Houston Oilers | Estimated |
| 1994 | R2.14 | Isaac Davis | Offensive Guard |  San Diego Chargers | Estimated |
A pick counts toward his tenure when the player’s final college season was one he coached, a checkable rule rather than a claim about who developed the player. A blank note means the player is on a verified roster and arrived on his watch. “Estimated” means no roster record, so the final season is assumed to be the year before the draft.
Career
Coaching career
The arc of his career is on Now.
Transformer raised the program into the sport's top tier, or higher within it · Steady no large move in either direction on our stature ladder
10th-best Arkansas tenure of 22 by the numbers.
Followed Joe Kines (1992) · succeeded by Houston Nutt (1998–2007).
| Season | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | ||||||
| Record | 5-5-1 | 4-7 | 8-5 | 4-7 | 4-7 | |
| Postseason | — | — | L bowl | — | — | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | ||||||
| Offense | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Defense | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script | ||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | — | — | |
2nd-best Clemson tenure of 10 by the numbers.
Followed Charley Pell (1977–1978) · succeeded by Ken Hatfield (1990–1993).
| Season | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record & result | |||||||||||||
| Record | 1-0 | 8-4 | 6-5 | 12-0 | 9-1-1 | 9-1-1 | 7-4 | 6-6 | 8-2-2 | 10-2 | 10-2 | 10-2 | |
| Postseason | W bowl | L bowl | — | W bowl | — | — | — | L bowl | W bowl | W bowl | W bowl | W bowl | |
| Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile | |||||||||||||
| Offense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Defense | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script | |||||||||||||
| 1st-down pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Red-zone pass% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 4th-down go%opp. territory | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
27 NFL Draft picks: Jim Stuckey (1980), Lester Brown (1980), Steve Durham (1981), Obed Ariri (1981), Jeff Bryant (1982), Perry Tuttle (1982), Jeff Davis (1982), Hollis Hall (1982) + 19 more
All-time wins
Wins at programs this site tracks, 1936–present — one consistent count for every coach, not each program’s own historically reported total.
3rd all-time at Clemson
Was he good?
Only one of the usual three angles is measurable for this era — raised the program.
+25.5 pts at Clemson · #39 of 1290 · top quarter