Willie C. Offord (born December 22, 1978) is a former

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 ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

in 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). Offord retired in 2007 due to injury.

Playing career

Offord played collegiately at the University of South Carolina finishing his career with the

Gamecocks A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ente ...

with 185 total tackles, 110 of them being solo tackles. He was drafted in the third round of the

2002 NFL Draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually sinc ...

with the 70th pick overall by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

. He recorded 27 total tackles and one

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

in his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

year, his best year statistically. He has played mostly

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

during his 5-year tenure with the Vikings, serving as the special teams Captain in 2003–2006. Offord was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

just three games into the 2005 season with a devastating knee injury. He was released by the Vikings in 2006 due to a severely broken wrist.

Coaching career

He served as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Linebackers Coach and Special Teams Coordinator for football at

Orangeburg Preparatory Schools Orangeburg Preparatory Schools, Inc. is an independent, college-preparatory, coeducational day school enrolling students in preschool through twelfth grade. It is located in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Orangeburg Prep has two campuses: the Lower ...

Orangeburg, South Carolina Orangeburg, also known as ''The Garden City'', is the principal city in and the county seat of Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population of the city was 13,964 according to the 2010 United States Census and declined to 12 ...

. He spent the 2008 football season as the Head Football Coach at

Paxon School for Advanced Studies Paxon School for Advanced Studies (PSAS) is one of four International Baccalaureate senior high schools (the others being Stanton College Preparatory School, Wolfson High School, and Terry Parker High School) in Duval County, Florida. Accordi ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. On December 18, 2009, Offord was named the Head Football Coach at

Interlachen High School Interlachen High School is a public high school located in Interlachen, Florida, United States, operated by the Putnam County School Board. The principal is Bryan Helms. Students There are currently 846 students enrolled at Interlachen High S ...

Interlachen, Florida Interlachen is a town in Putnam County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,403 at the 2010 census. The town is part of the Palatka Micropolitan Statistical Area and was named by a gentleman named Mr. Berkelmann from Germany who lived in ...

. Offord is currently the Head Football Coach at

North Marion High School (Florida) North Marion High School is a public high school and magnet school located in Citra, Florida. The school's athletic teams are known as the Colts and the varsity football team competes in the FHSAA Class 5A Division. The school colors are garnet an ...

, in Sparr, FL, after working one year as an assistant coach at Newberry College and the year before that as head coach at Columbia (SC) HS. Offord coached his alma mater, Palatka High School in Palatka, FL in the 2012 and 2013 seasons, taking the team to the FHSAA playoffs in 2013. Offord is the Head Football Coach at North Marion High School the 2018 FHSAA class 5A State Runner-up

References

1978 births Living people American football safeties American strength and conditioning coaches Minnesota Vikings players South Carolina Gamecocks football players High school football coaches in Florida High school football coaches in South Carolina People from Palatka, Florida Players of American football from Florida {{defensiveback-1970s-stub