The winter and spring of 1980 were eventful for Danny Ford as he tried to sustain the success of the three previous seasons.

Ford lost his offensive coordinator when Jimmye Laycock left to become head coach at William & Mary. Defensive line coach Mike Bugar joined former Tigers coach Charley Pell at Florida.

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Ford brought in Nelson Stokley from Virginia Tech to run the offense. He replaced Bugar with Frank Orgel, who came from East Carolina.

Ford and his staff spent much of winter and spring practice distracted by the exhausting drama of the Herschel Walker sweepstakes. Walker, a powerful, freakish high school running back from Wrightsville, Ga., was regarded as the top recruit in the country. He opted against making his choice on signing day in December, instead scheduling his announcement for Easter Sunday.

ALSO SEE: Danny's Days | Danny's Days II | Danny's Days III | THE STORY OF UIAGALELEI | THE STORY OF UIAGALELEI - Part 2 | THE STORY OF UIAGALELEI - Part 3 | Clemson signees | Clemson's junior commitments

Georgia and Clemson were regarded as the front-runners. Ford told people it would be difficult to snare Walker from the clutches of his home-state Bulldogs, but he said the Tigers had a chance.

In late March, Walker told the Atlanta Constitution he was tired of the bickering between Georgia and Clemson. He was so annoyed that he called coaches from Southern Cal and UCLA to tell them the Trojans and Bruins were back in the picture.

Al Adams, who covered Clemson for the Orange and White, wrote that Walker “might well wind up on the West Coast.”

With Easter Sunday approaching, Clemson, Georgia and Georgia Tech agreed to give Walker a few days of peace as he came to his decision. The truce didn’t last long. It was rumored to have been broken when a Clemson businessman from North Augusta drove to Wrightsville to talk to Walker. Some people said Georgia assistant Mike Cavan ruined the truce by trying to sneak a visit with Walker.

Georgia, which finished 6-5 the year before, desperately needed Walker after losing Peach State backs George Rogers (to South Carolina) and James Brooks (to Auburn) in previous years because of what coach Vince Dooley admitted was “poor recruiting on our part,” according to a Sports Illustrated article.

Walker signed with the Bulldogs.