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CENTRAL, S.C. -- Arguably the most recognizable figure in the history of Clemson Football guided the program to its first and only national championship in 1981.

It was here where 33-year old Danny Ford reached the pinnacle of college football. And it was here where Clemson emerged as the one, true oasis for serious football in the Atlantic Coast Conference. From 1981-83, Clemson posted a 30-2-2 mark, the best record in college football. Ford compiled a 96-29-4 mark, which included of course the national championship, five conference titles, and bowl victories over Ohio State, Nebraska, Penn State, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Stanford.

But it was also here where the NCAA uncovered a beehive of missteps, with many recruiting violations dating back to the Charley Pell Era in 1977-78, though the NCAA would again begin investigating the football program in 1989, later revealing its findings in 1990 that a coach and a booster gave cash to players from 1985-87. As a result, Clemson was again placed on probation in June of 1990, the second time in eight years.

Ford, still the youngest head coach in NCAA history to win a national title, would watch his tenure come to an abrupt end in January of 1990, after receiving a termination letter from then athletics director Bobby Robinson following an 'agreement' on the grounds of 'philosophical differences' with then university president Max Lennon.

In late May of 2011, I met with Ford for a three hour, exclusive interview where one more time the former National Coach of the Year placed himself back in the head coaching position at Clemson to relive his decade-long run as the program's front man.

PUBLISHER's NOTE: Five years ago when I met with Clemson's former head coaches, the last interview to take place was Ford. He had been really busy on his farm and was also in the middle of a couple of events that involved former players. One of the things I always admired about Coach Ford was his accessibility to his former players. It was after an event in Greenville where we decided to get together for nearly three hours.

I arrived at the hotel in the Upstate where the interview was to take place roughly 10 minutes prior to our scheduled meeting. The Tigers' legendary coach was already there. Ford, as usual, had already made himself at home and was just sitting on a couch reading a newspaper. Before I could put my notes and recorder down on a table, the coach had already reached out his hand. I shook his hand and it was obvious right away this was a coach who was used to hard, manual labor on his farm.

Growing up in the town of Cheraw, SC, I had always admired Ford. His 1981 Clemson team facing Nebraska in the National Championship Game was the first college football game I ever saw. I thought this was a coach who said a lot even when he said very little. Our family purchased our first VCR in 1986 and I remember recording his Sunday coaches shows. It gave me a window into how he viewed film, what he looked for in the game of football and how he critiqued performance. When he said something more than once in on-air evaluation, I could tell it was important to him. Even when he didn't really say much, you thought he did.

But that was many years ago. Now it was time to go to work. There were questions to be asked, some of which I knew Ford didn't want to answer.

For example, in this extensive four-part series, you will see certain questions appear in parts two and three, questions that were actually asked in the final minutes of the interview. One question in particular was my asking Ford this:

There were allegations of your coaches offering cash and benefits to prospects, then benefits provided for student-athletes. In the NCAA's findings, it was documented that they felt there was a pattern of improper recruiting activities, which in part led to the sanctions in 1982. How could the recruiting coordinator not know about these things? And how could the head coach not know about these things?

When I asked the question, Ford, still very much an imposing figure, just stared at me for a few seconds. I could tell right away he didn't like the question. Here I am thinking one of two things are about to happen. Either the most recognizable figure in Clemson history is about to deck me or he's going to get up and walk out of the interview. I deliberately waited until the final minutes of the interview to ask the question for this very reason. Ford, though, did indeed answer the question.

As he began talking about the NCAA probe from 1982, I could see he was getting a little frustrated, not only in discussing something that put a black mark on the program but also due to the manner in which it was handled by both the NCAA and the ACC, which levied its own sanctions against Clemson. Ford had gotten so frustrated back in 1982 when two NCAA investigators descended on Clemson one day, he told them he was about to go fishing when they wanted to question him. Ford cooperated with their questioning, of course. He simply put them in a boat with him and the three went fishing. That's essentially where he was personally interviewed by the NCAA's investigators.

There were other topics I felt needed to be discussed, such as his relationship with longtime UGA head coach and rival Vince Dooley, whether he felt Dooley had turned Clemson into the NCAA, Herschel Walker's recruitment, his relationship with South Carolina head coach Joe Morrison and a private meeting between the two days before Morrison died, his public chiding of Clemson's administration before his eventual dismissal in 1990, the termination letter he received from then athletics director Bobby Robinson, his relationship with then President Max Lennon, Ford's return to Clemson's campus where he spent time in his office at 1 a.m. the day before his departure was announced and so much more.

I wasn't sure how he would react to any of the aforementioned questions, but he was surprisingly candid. And for that reason, we have another window into Clemson's past, with additional clarity, finally.

This is Danny Ford, in his own words.

This is his story.

PART IV

Ard. You're fresh off blowing out Penn State, 35-10, we're in 1988 now and acquisition of talent continues to be outstanding, as you sign a top five recruiting class with a program record five PARADE All-Americans. Some notables here: Michael Carr out of Amite, La., Dexter Davis out of Sumter, Chris Gardocki from Stone Mountain, Ga., Chester McGlockton of Whiteville, NC, Ashley Sheppard of Greenville, NC, and Wayne Simmons of Hilton Head.

Ford. "That's one time the horse got before the cart (referring to Michael Carr). Very nice kid. There was a lot of publicity on the kid. Too much was expected of him when he got here. I could have handled that a little differently and red-shirted him. Maybe we tried to get him ready too quick.

"Chester, now he could play. Good, good player. His mother was his all. She was a little short lady. He was a little stubborn with some of his ways. I had to get on to him at times about going to study hall. He'd say, 'You can punish me and do what you want, but just don't call my mama.' And I'd always call his mama." (Smiling)

Ard. There's a name missing from your signing board around this time, Woodruff's Tony Rice, who went on to play at Notre Dame.

Ford. "We should have had him. He was a Clemson guy until Notre Dame got involved. We thought we were going to get him at one time. He would have been a really good option quarterback."

Ard. We're into the season now. You begin the year ranked 4th and then move up to No. 3 when you host #10 Florida State in week three. You have them beat, but they set up a comeback on a puntrooskie, arguably the most publicized play against Clemson in program history. Was this one of the more frustrating games of your head coaching career?

Ford. "Some of our coaches didn't want to kick the ball. I made the decision to kick it. And he ran one back. They made some big plays. And we knew they had some kind of trick play. We made three bad, big mistakes and they beat us."

Ard. You finish up 10-2 after a 13-6 win over #10 Oklahoma in the bowl game. Your team finishes ranked #8. You have a staff addition here in 1989, bringing in a young Rick Stockstill.

Ford. "We hired him as a graduate assistant coach. That was more of coach Reedy. His daddy was a high school coach. His brother was Jeff Stockstill. Good family. Good people. Chuck recommended him. We felt it was a no-brainer."

Ard. Coach Morrison at South Carolina passes away in 1989. They go out and hire Sparky Woods from Appalachian State. What do you remember about him?

Ford. "He had some success at App. State. We played them down there and they weren't real good that particular year. He didn't know what he was getting into. I remember visiting with him before that game. He just came into a deal that was probably a lot different than he thought it was going to be."

Ard. Your 1989 class was again very strong, ranked as high as #3 nationally. Some notables: Rodney Blunt out of Pensacola, Fla., Brentson Buckner from Columbus, Ga., Eric Geter from Newnan, Ga., Brent LeJune out of Lake Charles, La., Richard Moncrief from Montgomery, Ala., Robert O'Neal from Clarkston, Ga., Stacy Seeagars of Kershaw, Terry Smith from right here in Central and James Trapp of Lawton, Ok.

Ford. "There was a rodeo down there in Lake Charles and I went down there to see that. I remember LeJune showing me around his town. Terry Smith, he's passed away. A lot of those kids, a lot more than you'd think, have passed away now. It was another great class. We were getting good players."

Ard. I want to talk about Tom Harper for a moment because it's in this off-season where you lose him. What do you remember about his passing?

Ford. "Tom was in Savannah, Ga. when they found him. He had a book over his chest. He had suffered a heart attack while reading. I talked Tom into coming off the road and later going into administration. He wanted to still have some input on who we'd bring in, which I would have gone to him for that anyway.

"We'd all take physicals. And Tom wouldn't go get a physical. I still hate myself for not making him go. Sometimes you have to believe the good Lord knows (what's best). I don't know if Tom didn't know something.

"I do know that our coaches, sometimes they'd talk too much. There were always times when things were shaky and we had coaches who wouldn't get along. It was my job to hold them together. Every year we'd have some problems on staff. But we'd always keep it in-house, which it should be. That's like a man and a woman who's married. It's nobody's business. And there were some things ... well, it's nobody's business."

Ard. You begin the 1989 season ranked 12th, you move out to 4-0, but you're upset 21-17 at Duke and then you lose to Georgia Tech, 30-14, at home. You get on a five-game winning streak, blow out South Carolina 45-0 in Columbia, then beat #11 West Virginia bad in the bowl game to cap off a third, straight 10-win season. When you beat West Virginia, at that time, did you have any idea this would be your last season in Clemson?

Ford. "It was on television, before the bowl, that there was going to be a coaching change at one ACC school. I called the athletics director and wanted to know where it came from."

Ard. What did Bobby Robinson say when you confronted him with this?

Ford. (Pausing) "I don't remember what he said."

Ard. You go into recruiting and in the second week of January it's revealed that the NCAA is again looking into alleged improper recruiting practices. Was it at this point or shortly beforehand where the rumors of your being gone started back up?

Ford. "I don't think the rumors ever stopped. Once we got to the bowl, I don't think it ever stopped. There are things that people will never know or understand that went on from both sides, coaching and administration."

Ard. How did you feel at this point? What were you thinking?

Ford. "I may have pushed the subject, but they would never say if they were going to come out and say that they're going to back the football coaches or not. I felt like they were going to let us recruit and bring in another class and then they may do something or may not do something. I really believed that."

Ard. But for the record, you were not told in late December or the first week in January that there was going to be a change, correct?

Ford. "Correct."

Ard. This was a period of time where some frustration was vented publicly. There are stories where you would be at IPTAY functions, you'd vent and say things like, 'They don't want me to talk about this, but I'm the head coach and I can say whatever I want.' Is that the way it was?

Ford. "No, I never said it like that. But there were times when I probably should have kept my mouth shut and bit my lip. There were times when I think I did right, too. It's tough to explain, because you weren't there.

"I had my beliefs and they had theirs. There's no sense in rehashing it. It's all over with.

"Basically, I got an opportunity to coach at 30 years old, which I probably shouldn't have had. And I probably finished before I should have. But that's just the way the good Lord planned it, so there ain't no use worrying about it. The hay is in the barn. It's over. It's over. It's done."