The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Danny Ford

Followed Jack Crowe. Danny Ford held Arkansas at Power Program III for 5 seasons.

The builder
121–60
1978–1997 · 2 stints
ClemsonArkansas
← all coaches

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerCLEMSONARKANSASBlue Bloodpermanent top tierPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyClemson, 1978: 1-0, National Program II1978Clemson, 1979: 8-4, National Program IClemson, 1980: 6-5, National Program IClemson, 1981: 12-0, Power Program IClemson, 1982: 9-1, Power Program IClemson, 1983: 9-1, Power Program IClemson, 1984: 7-4, Power Program IClemson, 1985: 6-6, Power Program IClemson, 1986: 8-2, Power Program IClemson, 1987: 10-2, Power Program IClemson, 1988: 10-2, Power Program IClemson, 1989: 10-2, Power Program I1989+36.5Arkansas, 1993: 5-5, Power Program III1993Arkansas, 1994: 4-7, National Program IArkansas, 1995: 8-5, National Program IArkansas, 1996: 4-7, National Program IIArkansas, 1997: 4-7, National Program II1997-8.2One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Power Program in his 4th career season — faster than 37% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #215 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).

Clemson, 12 seasons
+36.5
National Program II → Power Program I.
Arkansas, 5 seasons
−8.2
Power Program III → National Program II.

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.

Rivalry record
8–7–1
50.0% · 2 rivals
One-score games
39–26–5
55.7% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
7–8
46.7%
Rivalry ledger
South Carolina7–3–164%
LSU1–420%
The toughest matchup
vs. Phillip Fulmer0–5
5 meetings, 1993–1997
’93 L’94 L’95 L’96 L’97 L
0% win rate across a real, 5-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.
Performance by opponent class
Blue Blood
7–8 46.7%
Power Program
15–21 41.7%
National Program
40–24 62.5%
Regional Program
49–7 87.5%

Coaching career

1993–1997
Arkansascaretaker
Power Program III → Power Program III
Danny Ford held Arkansas at Power Program III for 5 seasons.

10th-best Arkansas tenure of 22 by the numbers.

Followed Jack Crowe (1990–1992) · succeeded by Houston Nutt (1998–2007).

5 NFL Draft picks: Raylee Johnson (1993), Henry Ford (1994), Isaac Davis (1994), Anthony Hicks (1997), David Sanders (1998)

25–31
1978–1989
Clemsontransformer
Regional Program II → Power Program I
Danny Ford took Clemson from Regional Program II to Power Program I.

2nd-best Clemson tenure of 10 by the numbers.

Succeeded by Ken Hatfield (1990–1993).

32 NFL Draft picks: Archie Reese (1978), Jerry Butler (1979), Steve Fuller (1979), Joe Bostic (1979), Jonathan Brooks (1979), Jim Stuckey (1980), Lester Brown (1980), Steve Durham (1981) + 24 more

96–29