There are several reports that former Georgia Bulldog Cornerback, and teammate of Kirby Smart, Glenn Ford has emerged as a “serious candidate” for the Defensive Back Coach vacancy in Athens. Ford is the Chairman and CEO of iDareU Academy out of Atlanta. The famed training facility has produced many household names at the college and pro football levels. Most recently, Ford has worked with the first commit of Georgia’s recently signed 2021 recruiting class, David Daniel. Ford literally makes a living developing promising athletes, something that has been an outside criticism of the Georgia program, rightly or wrongly, for the last few years.
Many believe that under Kirby Smart, the strong suit of the Georgia program has been the accumulation of unbelievable amounts of talent and not necessarily the development of said talent. Now, I disagree with that notion because Smart and his staff have produced countless numbers of pro players that have exceeded all expectations at the NFL level and that is largely a credit to the foundation that is laid for those players during their time at UGA. Look no further than Tae Crowder. Kirby Smart’s program developed Crowder for a skinny 2-Star, 3-Star running back prospect that was headed to Georgia Southern, to Mr. Irrelevant in this past year’s NFL Draft at the linebacker position. Crowder has a tremendous rookie season for the Giants and one NFL front office member called Crowder, “the best rookie prospect he’s seen during his time in the league.” However, when it comes to some 5-Stars that have fell flat, and really because of 2 blown leads against Alabama, perception because reality. Alabama is “developing” the talent in championships and Georgia isn’t.
If Georgia hires Glenn Ford, it would be a homerun hire in my opinion for several reasons. One, Ford is a Georgia Bulldog through and through. Ford is a Peach State product himself and he is someone who has a genuine love for the program. Two, the recruiting connections that Ford would have due to his level of recognition in the high profile prospect training world would be second to none. Finally, thirdly, Ford has made a living as an educator and developer of talent for a decade and a half. Again, I’m going to suggest that unless the Dawgs win a College Football Playoff Championship in the next few seasons, there is no hire that will look like a success. However, as I said before, perception becomes reality. If Smart brings on a former Dawg that has produced talents in Bulldog lure such as Davin Bellamy, Natrez Patrick, and current Dawgs Chris Smith and David Daniel, and he’s part of a staff that wins it all, well he’ll be endeared to the Georgia faithful forever.
It’s as simple as that. All the ingredients are there for a great and promising relationship between Ford and the Dawgs as DB Coach, but ultimately beauty is in the eye of the beholder they said. Unfortunately for our society today, many are a prostitute to results, process and intricate details be damned. We should find out the results of the Georgia search to replace Charlton Warren in the coming week and regardless of what ends up happening in the end, Glenn Ford would make for a tremendous fit.