Robert Ford (born June 21, 1951) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach. He won three

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

s with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

. He is the current Offensive Coordinator of the

Orlando Guardians The Orlando Guardians are a professional American football team based in Orlando, Florida. The team was founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL. The Guardians played their home games at MetLife ...

Early years

Ford attended Belton High School, where he played as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. He accepted a football scholarship from the

, where he was switched to wide receiver. His roommate was future

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

player

Robert Newhouse Robert Fulton Newhouse (January 9, 1950 – July 22, 2014) was an American professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys for twelve seasons. He played college football for the Hous ...

. As a sophomore and junior, he was a backup wide receiver. He was named the starter as a senior in 1972, leading the team in receiving with 35 receptions for 538 yards (15.4-yard avg.) and 4 receiving

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s, earning third-team All-American honors. He also led in kickoff returns and punt returns. He had 231 receiving yards against

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

. He became the first player in the history of the NCAA to have two 99-yard

receptions, each thrown by QB Terry Peel. Ford was inducted into the

Athletics Hall of Honor and the Central Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

Coaching career

In 1973, he began his coaching career in

Saginaw High School Saginaw High School (part of the Saginaw City School District) is located in Saginaw, Michigan, USA. The student enrollment is 593 students. History The school was established in 1865 as East Side High School. Alice Freeman Palmer, who later be ...

. In 1974, he was named the wide receivers coach in

Western Illinois University Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College. History Western Illin ...

. In 1979, he joined the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

as their wide receivers coach. In 1980, he was hired by

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

as the wide receivers coach, where he was part of the same staff as future

coaches

Joe Avezzano Joe Avezzano (November 17, 1943 – April 5, 2012) was an American football player and coach. He was the head football coach at Oregon State University from 1980 to 1984, compiling a record of 6–47–2. Avezzano was later an assistant coach w ...

and

Dave Campo David Cross Campo (born July 18, 1947) is an American football coach and former player. Campo served as the head coach for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) from 2000 to 2002, compiling a record of 15 wins and 33 losses. He ...

. In 1982, he moved to

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

to be their wide receivers coach. In 1985, he spent one season with the

Houston Gamblers The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducing ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

before the league folded. He oversaw wide receivers

Ricky Sanders Ricky Wayne Sanders (born August 30, 1962) is a former American football wide receiver who played professionally for 12 seasons from 1983 to 1994, two with the United States Football League's Houston Gamblers and ten in the National Football Lea ...

Clarence Verdin Clarence Verdin (born June 14, 1963) is a former American football wide receiver and kick returner in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins, Indianapolis Colts and Atlanta Falcons. He also was a member of the Houston G ...

and

Richard Johnson Richard or Dick Johnson may refer to: Academics * Dick Johnson (academic) (1929–2019), Australian academic * Richard C. Johnson (1930–2003), professor of electrical engineering * Richard A. Johnson, artist and professor at the University of ...

. Sanders grabbed 48 passes for 538 yards despite playing only 10 games, Verdin caught 84 passes for 1,004 yards and Johnson had 103 catches for 1,384 yards. In 1986, he was hired by the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

to be the wide receivers coach. In 1987, he accepted the wide receivers coach position at

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

. He helped to develop

Tyrone Thurman Tyrone Thurman (born December 31, 1966) is a former American football wide receiver. He played at the college level at Texas Tech, where he earned All-American honors as a kick returner and played for teams in both the Arena Football League and ...

, Eddy Anderson and Wayne Walker as All-Southwest Conference wide receivers and were also named the nation's best group of receivers by

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

in 1988. They finished one-two-three on the school's All-time receiving list. In 1989, he joined the

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

coaching staff, helping the team to receive two

College Bowl ''College Bowl'' (which has carried a naming rights sponsor, initially General Electric and later Capital One) is a radio, television, and student quiz show. ''College Bowl'' first aired on the NBC Radio Network in 1953 as ''College Quiz Bowl'' ...

invitations, while guiding wide receiver Shane Garrett to reach the

. In 1991, was hired by head coach Jimmy Johnson to be the tight end coach for the

, where he helped to develop

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list th ...

Jay Novacek Jay McKinley Novacek (born October 24, 1962) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League who played for the St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals (1985–1989) and the Dallas Cowboys (1990–1995). Novacek was a five-time Pro ...

. He also contributed to the team winning

Super Bowl XXVII Super Bowl XXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...

, XXVIII and

XXX XXX may refer to: Codes and symbols * 30 (number), Roman numeral XXX * XXX, designating pornography ** XXX, an X rating#United_States, X rating ** .xxx, an internet top-level domain intended for pornographic sites * XXX, a symbol of the straight ...

. In 1998, he followed Johnson to the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

coaching staff as the wide receivers coach, where he had an opportunity to develop

Oronde Gadsden Oronde Benjamin Gadsden (pronounced o-RON-day) (born August 20, 1971) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins. He also was a member of the Frankfurt Galaxy (NFL E ...

O. J. McDuffie Otis James McDuffie (born December 2, 1969) is a former American college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. He played college football for Penn State University, a ...

, Tony Martin and

Chris Chambers Christopher J. Chambers (born August 12, 1978) is a former American football wide receiver who played 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers football, University of Wisconsin. He ...

. In 2004, he was hired by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

to be the wide receivers coach. He had the opportunity to coach

Larry Fitzgerald Larry Darnell Fitzgerald Jr. (born August 31, 1983) is a former American football wide receiver. Fitzgerald played in the National Football League for 17 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. He played college football at University of Pittsb ...

Anquan Boldin Anquan Kenmile Boldin Sr. (; born October 3, 1980) is a former American football wide receiver who played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida State University and was drafted by the Arizona Ca ...

and

Bryant Johnson Bryant Andrew Johnson (born March 7, 1981) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals 17th overall in the 2003 NFL Draft and also played for the San Fran ...

. In 2006, he joined the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

coaching staff as the offensive quality control coach. Ford was officially hired by the

on September 13, 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Robert 1951 births Living people American football wide receivers Arizona Cardinals coaches Dallas Cowboys coaches Houston Cougars football players Kansas Jayhawks football coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches New Mexico Lobos football coaches Oregon State Beavers football coaches Miami Dolphins coaches Oakland Raiders coaches Orlando Guardians coaches Texas A&M Aggies football coaches Texas Southern Tigers football coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders football coaches United States Football League coaches Western Illinois Leathernecks football coaches High school football coaches in Michigan People from Belton, Texas Players of American football from Texas African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople