Danny Ford was a little ahead of his times when it came to how he used his running backs. In the late 1970s and ’80s, it was common for college football teams to have one running back to carry the majority of the load. South Carolina did it with George Rogers during his Heisman Trophy campaign in 1980, and did Georgia did the same with Herschel Walker in 1982.
Ford, who only thought about the forward pass if he was forced to do so, believed in having a stable of running backs at his disposal.
“One guy would start a game, but the other guy might end it,” former Clemson running back Cliff Austin said.