Re: I don't mean to sound particularly grumpy....

but nothing in those two links answers the OP's question and that 2nd link had to have been written by a chickentech alum.....and I assume everyone's aware that ANYONE can contribute to Wikipedia--coots have tried to rewrite Clemson history on Wikipedia with their own loser slant before.

A simple answer to the question posed by the OP is:

Politics.

Because of his football success and the influence the football program cast over campus, Coach Ford thought he was in a position of power and influence similar to that of Paul "Bear" Bryant at Alabama, Woody Hayes at OhioSt and other very successful coaches. The NCAA was changing the football landscape and there were academicians and BOT members who were not happy with NCAA & ACC sanctions leveled on Clemson. To be honest, Coach Ford was simply competing with SEC schools on a level playing field.......In any event, Coach Ford drew a "line in the sand" on the construction of a new football dorm which he'd already been selling to new recruits. The new president at Clemson, Max Lennon, said no. Coach Ford unfortunately found out that Mr. Lennon was his boss when AD Bobby Robinson, who ALSO worked under Lennon was told to fire Coach Ford. And to compound matters, Ken Hatfield was hired and, probably under instruction from HIS bosses, began the systematic dismantling of Clemson's football program--and trust me, while Hatfield's records his first couple of years at Clemson were exemplary, YOUR GRANDMOTHER could have coached that talent to the same record.

Anyhow, thats what happened. During the couple of weeks following Ford's dismissal, students marched on the presidents home, hundreds--if not thousands--of IPTAY members called their representative, the head of IPTAY, and anybody else they could get on the phone and threatened to leave IPTAY....some did, though most came back. Nobody was happy. None of us like discussing it even today

Harley®

Paw Master [16315]

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Sep 6, 2013, 5:35 PM

I am old. Here is my view.....

Clemson fired Red Parker in 1977 and elevated Coach Pell to head man. Danny was OC for Coach Pell, coached the OL and was young and darn good. WE cheated under Pell. By WE, I mean many backers of the school helped many players get into school, buy clothes, and be regular students. We gave LOTS of players lots of small and not so small benefits in excess of what the rules allowed. What we were doing was par for the course at that time and we were mostly just matching what the big schools in the deep south were doing. But we were johnny come late to the party and our cheating attracted attention.

Pell left us for Florida in 1978 but the pattern established under Coach Pell continued under Coach Ford.

We won the national title in 81 but there was a lot of talk about recruiting irregularities throughout that year. We would play on national TV and Jim Lampley would call us an outlaw school. MEANWHILE, quite a few players were getting sweet deals on used cars, which attracted a lot of attention.

The NCAA investigation attracted a lot of attention. Assistant Coach Willie Anderson was personally cited for illegally inducing kids to sign with us. And we went on MAJOR PROBATION, no TV, no bowls, loss of scholarships in late 1982.

I think the whole Clemson community, including the BOT did not want to ever repeat the negative pr that came with probation and told Coach Ford that if we got into trouble again, heads would roll.

In 86 or 87 there were rumors of minor issues regarding recruiting inducements, tshirts, rides, $50 and the like. We admitted minor problemss and got a hand slap. In 88 and 89 there were again rumors of violations.

(I think some of the rumors were true. I could not swear in court, but I think money changed hands on the day CHester McGlocton signed.)

Against this backdrop, Max Lennon and Coach Ford fueded with Coach Ford always having the fans in his hands and Max Lennon, ever the idiot, failing miserably to deal effectively with Coach Ford. And by that I mean, Danny was a great great football coach and was doing 99.9% of his job PERFECTLY with respect to the rules....he just talked too much and Lennon wanted to be the only guy talking.

Anyway, with politics in the forefront, with an NCAA investigation going on, I THINK LENNON FORCED FORD OUT and that we got off light from the NCAA at least in part because of that. This is highly debatable. Guys who played then swear Coach Ford's later years were marked by high rules compliance and I believe them. But I think McGlocton's family got some money from somewhere.

So Ford was forced to resign and Clemson then wandered in the football wilderness for 20 years.

I almost worship Coach Ford. He had faults, but he was and is a great man. I hate Max Lennon. Lennon was eventually run off from Clemson and then run off as President of a two bit NC college when the faculty revolted.

What I also believe is that Clemson suffered a lot for cheating in the late 70s and early 80s even while we were not doing anything at all that was not perfectly common at Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Auburn and the like.

I am terrifically proud of the fact that these days we are ranked in the top 5 in football, the top 15 in football attendance, the top 25 among public universities overall and that we do everything the right way.

But we did get some mud on ourselves in the late 70s and early 80s and Coach Ford was running the show for some of that time, and he was running the show EXACTLY like other coaches at the schools I named.

That's my story.

Harley

((BTW, for the Gamecocks out there, you guys went on major football and basketball probation in the 60s and 70s. The Gamecock AD and Head coach had a slush fund from which he paid the tuition and fees of players who were ineligible to play in football. This resulted in SC forfeiting games, firing the football coach and vacating a title. In Basketball, in the Mike Grosso case SC was similarly embarrassed. I throw this in because many SC fans seem to recall everything about Clemson's troubles and nothing about their own.)

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Clemson History Lesson

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I don't mean to sound particularly grumpy....

Good synopsis. Here are some clippings from that time

Re: Good synopsis. Here are some clippings from that time

It ripped the Clemson family apart. We have only

Re: It ripped the Clemson family apart. We have only

Everyone involved shared some portion of blame

Re: Everyone involved shared some portion of blame

Re: Everyone involved shared some portion of blame