Top 25
20-29-1
- Games
- 50
- Win rate
- 41.0%
Back to Coaches
Peak DominatorDefense-FirstLong Career
Coach Profile
Danny Ford
1978-1997 • Arkansas, Clemson
2 schools coached, anchored by Clemson.
Danny Ford coached 17 seasons, won 66.4%, and posted an average SRS of 11.0. Best season: 1981 Clemson. The profile was defense-first with a highly volatile profile. 2 stints shaped the career arc.
- Career record
- 121-60-5
- Career win rate
- 66.4%
- Average SRS
- 11.0
- Peak SRS
- 25.2
Career Dossier
One glance at the full arc.
The profile below keeps the headline numbers visible, then moves into tenure shape, school impact, and full season detail.
- Seasons coached
- 17
- Career span
- 20 years
- Best finish
- #1
- Consistency
- 27.3
Primary school anchor
Clemson
Defense-First profile with 2 program stops and a peak score of 92.8.
Career Arc
Track how the coach's season-to-season performance changed over time, where the peak landed, and where each school stint appears.
Focus on where peaks separate, where floors hold, and how the shape of each career changed over time.
Danny Ford
EliteStrongAverageLean
Danny Ford: 1993 Arkansas
1978Actual season year • SRS range -5.4 to 25.21997
Active comparison point
Danny Ford • 1981
1981 Clemson
Best seasonBiggest improvement12-0 • SRS 25.2 • SP Overall 28.4
Win %
100.0%
YoY SRS
+18.8
SP Off / Def
34.9 / 6.8
Finish
#1
Comparison context
Focus a point to inspect how it stacks up against the rest of the field.
Ranked opponent record
Track career record against ranked opponents with switchable poll source and ranking timing.
Using AP Top 25 rankings at the time of each game; week-one games use the week-one ranking release when available.
Top 10
2-12
- Games
- 14
- Win rate
- 14.3%
Top 5
1-6
- Games
- 7
- Win rate
- 14.3%
View ranked game results50
| 1997 Regular Week 15 | Arkansas | LSU | #17 | L21-31 |
| 1997 Regular Week 14 | Arkansas | Mississippi State | #15 | W17-7 |
| 1997 Regular Week 13 | Arkansas | Tennessee | #5 | L22-30 |
| 1997 Regular Week 10 | Arkansas | Auburn | #11 | L21-26 |
| 1997 Regular Week 7 | Arkansas | Florida | #1 | L7-56 |
| 1997 Regular Week 5 | Arkansas | Alabama | #11 | W17-16 |
| 1996 Regular Week 15 | Arkansas | LSU | #19 | L7-17 |
| 1996 Regular Week 13 | Arkansas | Tennessee | #12 | L14-55 |
| 1996 Regular Week 11 | Arkansas | Auburn | #24 | L7-28 |
| 1996 Regular Week 7 | Arkansas | Florida | #1 | L7-42 |
| 1996 Regular Week 5 | Arkansas | Alabama | #13 | L7-17 |
| 1995 Regular Week 10 | Arkansas | Auburn | #11 | W30-28 |
| 1995 Regular Week 7 | Arkansas | Tennessee | #10 | L31-49 |
| 1995 Regular Week 4 | Arkansas | Alabama | #13 | W20-19 |
| 1995 Postseason Week 1 | Arkansas | Florida | #2 | L3-34 |
| 1994 Regular Week 11 | Arkansas | Mississippi State | #24 | L7-17 |
| 1994 Regular Week 10 | Arkansas | Auburn | #4 | L14-31 |
| 1994 Regular Week 4 | Arkansas | Alabama | #12 | L6-13 |
| 1993 Regular Week 10 | Arkansas | Auburn | #9 | L21-31 |
| 1993 Regular Week 7 | Arkansas | Tennessee | #11 | L14-28 |
| 1993 Regular Week 4 | Arkansas | Alabama | #2 | L3-43 |
| 1993 Regular Week 3 | Arkansas | South Carolina | #19 | W18-17 |
| 1989 Regular Week 8 | Clemson | NC State | #12 | W30-10 |
| 1989 Regular Week 2 | Clemson | Florida State | #16 | W34-23 |
| 1989 Postseason Week 1 | Clemson | West Virginia | #21 | W27-7 |
| 1988 Regular Week 4 | Clemson | Florida State | #10 | L21-24 |
| 1988 Postseason Week 1 | Clemson | Oklahoma | #14 | W13-6 |
| 1987 Regular Week 13 | Clemson | South Carolina | #8 | L7-20 |
| 1987 Regular Week 4 | Clemson | Georgia | #20 | W21-20 |
| 1986 Regular Week 9 | Clemson | NC State | #16 | L3-27 |
| 1984 Regular Week 14 | Clemson | South Carolina | #7 | L21-22 |
| 1984 Regular Week 13 | Clemson | Maryland | #18 | L23-41 |
| 1984 Regular Week 6 | Clemson | Georgia Tech | #12 | L21-28 |
| 1984 Regular Week 5 | Clemson | Georgia | #12 | L23-26 |
| 1983 Regular Week 12 | Clemson | Maryland | #20 | W52-27 |
| 1983 Regular Week 11 | Clemson | North Carolina | #19 | W16-3 |
| 1983 Regular Week 4 | Clemson | Georgia | #14 | T16-16 |
| 1982 Regular Week 11 | Clemson | Maryland | #18 | W24-22 |
| 1982 Regular Week 10 | Clemson | North Carolina | #18 | W16-13 |
| 1981 Regular Week 10 | Clemson | North Carolina | #8 | W10-8 |
| 1981 Regular Week 3 | Clemson | Georgia | #4 | W13-3 |
| 1981 Postseason Week 1 | Clemson | Nebraska | #11 | W22-15 |
| 1980 Regular Week 13 | Clemson | South Carolina | #19 | W27-6 |
| 1980 Regular Week 11 | Clemson | North Carolina | #15 | L19-24 |
| 1980 Regular Week 4 | Clemson | Georgia | #10 | L16-20 |
| 1979 Regular Week 13 | Clemson | South Carolina | #17 | L9-13 |
| 1979 Regular Week 10 | Clemson | Wake Forest | #20 | W31-0 |
| 1979 Postseason Week 1 | Clemson | Baylor | #14 | L18-24 |
| 1978 Regular Week 12 | Clemson | Maryland | #13 | W28-24 |
| 1978 Regular Week 4 | Clemson | Georgia | #19 | L0-12 |
Tenure map
Each stint expands by seasons coached. Deeper color signals a stronger average SRS over that stretch.
Length = seasons coachedDeeper color = stronger stint
Arkansas
1993-1997 • 5 seasons
Avg SRS 0.5 • Win % 44.7%
Clemson
1978-1989 • 12 seasons
Avg SRS 15.4 • Win % 76.0%
- Longest tenure
- Clemson • 12 seasons
- Best tenure
- Clemson • 15.4 SRS
- Best tenure win rate
- Clemson • 76.0%
Style and Strength Profile
Compare strength, identity, steadiness, and ceiling through normalized bars with raw SP and SRS context underneath.
These bars are normalized against the full coach dataset. Raw SP and SRS values stay visible so the profile reads as evidence, not decoration.
Overall Strength
Start with total quality before splitting style and variance.
Danny Ford sets the reference point in overall strength.
Overall Strength
Decisive edgeDanny Ford sets the reference point in overall strength.
Normalized score; raw SP overall stays underneath for reference.
Danny Ford
Elite
- Raw avg SP Overall
- 12.9
- Percentile
- 91th pct
Elite
Normalized against the full tracked coach pool.
Impact by school
See how each stint compared with what that program usually looked like outside that same span.
Arkansas
1993-1997 • 25-31-1
Compared with this school's baseline outside that stint over the prior 5 seasons (5 baseline seasons found).
Avg SRS 0.5Win % 44.7%
Avg wins
Higher is better
5.0 during vs 6.1 baseline
-1.1
Avg SRS
Higher is better
0.5 during vs 5.2 baseline
-4.7
Avg SP Overall
Higher is better
3.3 during vs 8.7 baseline
-5.4
Ranked finish rate
Higher is better
0.0% during vs 40.0% baseline
-40.0%
Clemson
1978-1989 • 96-29-4
Compared with this school's baseline outside that stint over the prior 5 seasons (5 baseline seasons found).
Avg SRS 15.4Win % 76.0%
Avg wins
Higher is better
8.0 during vs 5.0 baseline
+3.0
Avg SRS
Higher is better
15.4 during vs 2.6 baseline
+12.9
Avg SP Overall
Higher is better
16.9 during vs 1.6 baseline
+15.3
Ranked finish rate
Higher is better
66.7% during vs 20.0% baseline
+46.7%
Career highs and lows
High Points
Best Season
Clemson 1981
12-0 • SRS 25.2
Biggest Improvement
Clemson 1981
12-0 • 18.8 SRS
Best Offensive Season
Clemson 1989
10-2 • SP Off 38.2
Best Defensive Season
Clemson 1979
8-4 • SP Def 6.5
Setbacks
Worst Season
Arkansas 1996
4-7 • SRS -5.4
Biggest Drop
Arkansas 1993
5-5-1 • -19.0 SRS
Season-by-season results
Full transparency into every season in the coaching record. Positive YoY values indicate improvement from the prior season.
| Arkansas | 1997 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 36.4% | — | — | -0.1 | 2.5 | 26.7 | 25.0 | +5.3 | 0.0% |
| Arkansas | 1996 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 36.4% | — | — | -5.4 | -1.2 | 23.7 | 25.0 | -7.8 | -25.2% |
| Arkansas | 1995 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 61.5% | — | — | 2.4 | 5.7 | 28.8 | 24.3 | -0.4 | +25.2% |
| Arkansas | 1994 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 36.4% | — | — | 2.8 | 4.6 | 25.1 | 21.3 | +0.1 | -13.6% |
| Arkansas | 1993 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 50.0% | — | — | 2.7 | 5.0 | 22.0 | 17.8 | -19.0 | -33.3% |
| Clemson | 1989 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 83.3% | #12 | #12 | 21.7 | 25.4 | 38.2 | 13.4 | +1.6 | 0.0% |
| Clemson | 1988 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 83.3% | #4 | #9 | 20.1 | 22.7 | 36.5 | 14.7 | +5.7 | 0.0% |
| Clemson | 1987 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 83.3% | #9 | #12 | 14.4 | 13.7 | 32.0 | 19.1 | +1.0 | +8.3% |
| Clemson | 1986 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 75.0% | — | #17 | 13.4 | 14.3 | 32.0 | 18.3 | +7.7 | +25.0% |
| Clemson | 1985 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 50.0% | — | — | 5.7 | 4.9 | 25.4 | 21.3 | -8.2 | -13.6% |
| Clemson | 1984 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 63.6% | #4 | — | 13.9 | 12.7 | 36.9 | 26.1 | -0.4 | -22.7% |
| Clemson | 1983 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 86.4% | — | #11 | 14.3 | 16.2 | 36.5 | 22.2 | -2.4 | 0.0% |
| Clemson | 1982 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 86.4% | #11 | #8 | 16.7 | 17.4 | 32.3 | 16.3 | -8.5 | -13.6% |
| Clemson | 1981 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% | — | #1 | 25.2 | 28.4 | 34.9 | 6.8 | +18.8 | +45.5% |
| Clemson | 1980 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 54.5% | — | — | 6.4 | 7.3 | 27.2 | 21.0 | -8.4 | -12.1% |
| Clemson | 1979 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 66.7% | — | — | 14.8 | 19.9 | 25.1 | 6.5 | -3.7 | -33.3% |
| Clemson | 1978 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% | #18 | #6 | 18.5 | 20.2 | 34.6 | 15.2 | — | — |
Similar coaches
Related profiles are matched by style, strength band, volatility band, peak range, and career length.
Pat Dye
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 0.1
Avg SRS 11.0 • Peak SRS 22.0 • 19 seasons
Best finish #3 • Volatility 7.7
Open profile →Kyle Whittingham
same defense-first identity • avg SRS within 0.3
Avg SRS 10.7 • Peak SRS 24.9 • 22 seasons
Best finish #2 • Volatility 5.9
Open profile →Frank Broyles
same defense-first identity • volatility within 0.7
Avg SRS 15.2 • Peak SRS 26.1 • 20 seasons
Best finish #2 • Volatility 7.7
Open profile →Earle Bruce
avg SRS within 0.9 • volatility within 0.2
Avg SRS 10.1 • Peak SRS 24.9 • 19 seasons
Best finish #4 • Volatility 8.6
Open profile →Pete Elliott
same defense-first identity • volatility within 0.0
Avg SRS 6.0 • Peak SRS 18.9 • 13 seasons
Best finish #3 • Volatility 8.4
Open profile →DC Morrow
avg SRS within 0.1 • volatility within 0.8
Avg SRS 10.9 • Peak SRS 26.8 • 8 seasons
Best finish Unranked • Volatility 7.6
Open profile →