Longtime UAlbany Head Coach Bob Ford To Receive 2025 AFCA Amos Alonzo Stagg Award
October 15, 2024
Former University at Albany head coach and 2000 AFCA President Bob Ford will receive the AFCA’s 2025 Amos Alonzo Stagg Award. The award is given to those “whose services have been outstanding in the advancement of the best interests in football.”
When UAlbany wanted to reinstate their football program in 1970 after a 46-year absence, they called on Bob Ford to be their head coach, and it was a job that he would hold onto for the next 44 years. From 1970 to 2013, Ford guided the Great Danes from a club sport to a Division I-FCS program. He won 256 games and eight conference titles in his 41 seasons as a varsity head coach.
After his playing days at Springfield College were over, Ford began his coaching career in 1959 at St. Lawrence University as running backs and secondary coach. He joined the Albright football program in 1960 as secondary and offensive backs coach and would stay there for four years before returning to Springfield as secondary coach in 1964. Ford returned to St. Lawrence in 1965, this time as head coach. He would win nine games in his four seasons as head coach, along with one conference title. Ford went back to Springfield as defensive coordinator for one season before being named the head coach at UAlbany in 1970.
Ford’s first three seasons were spent as a club sport, then the Great Danes played as a Division III independent from 1973 to 1994. UAlbany’s best season in Division III came in 1977 when they went 9-2 and made a run to the semifinals of the D3 playoffs. The program moved up to Division II in 1995, joining the Eastern Football Conference in 1997 and 1998, winning back-to-back conference titles with records of 11-1 and 10-1, respectively. Ford earned AFCA Regional Coach of the Year honors in 1997 for that 11-1 season. UAlbany then moved to Division I-FCS in 1999 and was a member of the Northeast Conference until 2012, winning six conference titles and making one appearance in the FCS playoffs. The Great Danes moved to the Coastal Athletic Association in his final season as head coach.
Ford was an active member of the AFCA, serving on several committees. He was elected to the AFCA Board of Trustees in 1994 and served as the association’s president in 2000. Ford was inducted into the Wachusett Regional High School Hall of Fame in 1986, the Springfield College Hall of Fame in 2012, and the UAlbany Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016. He was also very active with the National Football Foundation’s Capital District Chapter, earning its Service to Football Award. The UAlbany football field is named in Ford’s honor.
The Award
The Amos Alonzo Stagg Award is given to the “individual, group or institution whose services have been outstanding in the advancement of the best interests of football.” Its purpose is “to perpetuate the example and influence of Amos Alonzo Stagg.”
The award is named in honor of a man who was instrumental in founding the AFCA in the 1920s. He is considered one of the great innovators and motivating forces in the early development of the game of football. The plaque given to each recipient is a replica of the one given to Stagg at the 1939 AFCA Convention in tribute to his 50 years of service to football.
Amos Alonzo Stagg
Amos Alonzo Stagg began his coaching career at the School of Christian Workers, now Springfield (Mass.) College, after graduating from Yale University in 1888. Stagg also served as head coach at Chicago (1892-1932) and College of the Pacific (1933-1946). His 41 seasons at Chicago is one of the longest head coaching tenures in the history of the college game.
Among the innovations credited to Stagg are the tackling dummy, the huddle, the reverse play, man in motion, knit pants, numbering plays and players, and the awarding of letters. A long-time AFCA member, Stagg was the Association’s 1943 Coach of the Year.
According to NCAA records, Stagg’s 57-year record as a college head coach is 314-199-35. He was 84 years old when he ended his coaching career at Pacific in 1946. He died in 1965 at the age of 103.
Past Amos Alonzo Stagg Award Winners:
1940 Donald Herring, Jr., (Princeton player) and family 1983 Paul W. “Bear” Bryant, Maryland, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Alabama
1941 William H. Cowell (posthumously), New Hampshire 1984 Charles B. “Bud” Wilkinson, Oklahoma
1946 Grantland Rice, sportswriter 1985 Duffy Daugherty, Michigan State
1947 William A. Alexander, Georgia Tech 1986 Woody Hayes, Denison, Miami (Ohio), Ohio State
1948 Gilmour Dobie, North Dakota State, Washington, Navy, Cornell, Boston College 1987 Field Scovell, Cotton Bowl
Glenn S. “Pop” Warner, Georgia, Cornell, Carlisle, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Temple 1988 G. Herbert McCracken, Allegheny, Lafayette
Robert C. Zuppke, Illinois 1989 David Nelson, Delaware
1949 Richard C. Harlow, Penn State, Colgate, Western Maryland, Harvard 1990 Len Casanova, Oregon
1950 No award given 1991 Bob Blackman, Denver, Dartmouth, Illinois, Cornell
1951 DeOrmond “Tuss” McLaughry, Westminster, Amherst, Brown, Dartmouth 1992 Charles McClendon, LSU
1952 A.N. “Bo” McMillin, Indiana 1993 Keith Jackson, ABC-TV
1953 Lou Little, Georgetown, Columbia 1994 Bob Devaney, Nebraska, Wyoming
1954 Dana X. Bible, Mississippi College, LSU, Texas A&M, Nebraska, Texas 1995 John Merritt, Jackson State, Tennessee State
1955 Joseph J. Tomlin, founder, Pop Warner Football 1996 Chuck Neinas, College Football Association
1956 No award given 1997 Ara Parseghian, Miami (Ohio), Northwestern, Notre Dame
1957 Gen. Robert R. Neyland, Tennessee 1998 Bob Reade, Augustana (Ill.)
1958 Bernie Bierman, Mississippi A&M, Tulane, Minnesota 1999 Bo Schembechler, Miami (Ohio), Michigan
1959 Dr. John W. Wilce, Ohio State 2000 Tom Osborne, Nebraska
1960 Harvey J. Harman, Haverford, University of the South, Pennsylvania, Rutgers 2001 Vince Dooley, Georgia
1961 Ray Eliot, Illinois 2002 Joe Paterno, Penn State
1962 E.E. “Tad” Wieman, Michigan, Princeton, Maine 2003 LaVell Edwards, Brigham Young
1963 Andrew Kerr, Stanford, Washington & Jefferson, Colgate, Lebanon Valley 2004 Ron Schipper, Central (Iowa)
1964 Don Faurot, Missouri 2005 Hayden Fry, North Texas, SMU, Iowa
1965 Harry Stuhldreher, Wisconsin 2006 Grant Teaff, McMurry, Angelo State, Baylor
1966 Bernie H. Moore, LSU 2007 Bill Curry, Georgia Tech, Alabama, Kentucky
1967 Jess Neely, Southwestern, Clemson, Rice 2008 Bill Walsh, San Francisco 49ers, Stanford
1968 Abe Martin, TCU 2009 John Gagliardi, Carroll (Mont.), St. John’s (Minn.)
1969 Charles A. “Rip” Engle, Brown, Penn State 2010 Darrell Royal, Mississippi State, Washington, Texas
1970 Lynn “Pappy” Waldorf, Syracuse, Oklahoma City, Kansas, Oklahoma A&M, Kansas State, Northwestern, California 2011 Bobby Bowden, Samford, West Virginia, Florida State
1971 Bill Murray, Delaware, Duke 2012 Fisher DeBerry, Air Force
1972 Jack Curtice, Stanford 2013 Frosty Westering, Parsons, Lea College, Pacific Lutheran
1973 Lloyd Jordan, Amherst, Harvard 2014 R.C. Slocum, Texas A&M
1974 Alonzo S. “Jake” Gaither, Florida A&M 2015 Ken Hatfield, Air Force, Arkansas, Clemson, Rice
1975 Gerald B. Zornow, business executive 2016 John Cooper, Tulsa, Arizona State, Ohio State
1976 No award given 2017 Don Nehlen, Bowling Green, West Virginia
1977 Floyd “Ben” Schwartzwalder, Muhlenberg, Syracuse 2018 Frank Broyles, Missouri, Arkansas
1978 Tom Hamilton, Navy, Pittsburgh 2019 Marv Levy, Buffalo Bills
1979 H.O. “Fritz” Crisler, Minnesota, Princeton, Michigan 2020 Dick Tomey, Arizona, Hawaii, San Jose State
1980 No award given 2022 Mel Tjeerdsma, Austin College, Northwest Missouri State
1981 Fred Russell, sportswriter 2023 Roy Kidd, Eastern Kentucky
1982 Eddie Robinson, Grambling 2024 Larry Kehres, Mount Union
For more information about the AFCA, visit www.AFCA.com. For more interesting articles, check out The Insider and subscribe to our weekly email.
If you are interested in more in-depth articles and videos, please become an AFCA member. You can find out more information about membership and specific member benefits on the AFCA Membership Overview page. If you are ready to join, please fill out the AFCA Membership Application.
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Former University at Albany head coach and 2000 AFCA President Bob Ford will receive the AFCA’s 2025 Amos Alonzo Stagg Award. The award is given to those “whose services have been outstanding in the advancement of the best interests in football.”
When UAlbany wanted to reinstate their football program in 1970 after a 46-year absence, they called on Bob Ford to be their head coach, and it was a job that he would hold onto for the next 44 years. From 1970 to 2013, Ford guided the Great Danes from a club sport to a Division I-FCS program. He won 256 games and eight conference titles in his 41 seasons as a varsity head coach.
After his playing days at Springfield College were over, Ford began his coaching career in 1959 at St. Lawrence University as running backs and secondary coach. He joined the Albright football program in 1960 as secondary and offensive backs coach and would stay there for four years before returning to Springfield as secondary coach in 1964. Ford returned to St. Lawrence in 1965, this time as head coach. He would win nine games in his four seasons as head coach, along with one conference title. Ford went back to Springfield as defensive coordinator for one season before being named the head coach at UAlbany in 1970.
Ford’s first three seasons were spent as a club sport, then the Great Danes played as a Division III independent from 1973 to 1994. UAlbany’s best season in Division III came in 1977 when they went 9-2 and made a run to the semifinals of the D3 playoffs. The program moved up to Division II in 1995, joining the Eastern Football Conference in 1997 and 1998, winning back-to-back conference titles with records of 11-1 and 10-1, respectively. Ford earned AFCA Regional Coach of the Year honors in 1997 for that 11-1 season. UAlbany then moved to Division I-FCS in 1999 and was a member of the Northeast Conference until 2012, winning six conference titles and making one appearance in the FCS playoffs. The Great Danes moved to the Coastal Athletic Association in his final season as head coach.
Ford was an active member of the AFCA, serving on several committees. He was elected to the AFCA Board of Trustees in 1994 and served as the association’s president in 2000. Ford was inducted into the Wachusett Regional High School Hall of Fame in 1986, the Springfield College Hall of Fame in 2012, and the UAlbany Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016. He was also very active with the National Football Foundation’s Capital District Chapter, earning its Service to Football Award. The UAlbany football field is named in Ford’s honor.
The Award
The Amos Alonzo Stagg Award is given to the “individual, group or institution whose services have been outstanding in the advancement of the best interests of football.” Its purpose is “to perpetuate the example and influence of Amos Alonzo Stagg.”
The award is named in honor of a man who was instrumental in founding the AFCA in the 1920s. He is considered one of the great innovators and motivating forces in the early development of the game of football. The plaque given to each recipient is a replica of the one given to Stagg at the 1939 AFCA Convention in tribute to his 50 years of service to football.
Amos Alonzo Stagg
Amos Alonzo Stagg began his coaching career at the School of Christian Workers, now Springfield (Mass.) College, after graduating from Yale University in 1888. Stagg also served as head coach at Chicago (1892-1932) and College of the Pacific (1933-1946). His 41 seasons at Chicago is one of the longest head coaching tenures in the history of the college game.
Among the innovations credited to Stagg are the tackling dummy, the huddle, the reverse play, man in motion, knit pants, numbering plays and players, and the awarding of letters. A long-time AFCA member, Stagg was the Association’s 1943 Coach of the Year.
According to NCAA records, Stagg’s 57-year record as a college head coach is 314-199-35. He was 84 years old when he ended his coaching career at Pacific in 1946. He died in 1965 at the age of 103.
| Past Amos Alonzo Stagg Award Winners: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | Donald Herring, Jr., (Princeton player) and family | 1983 | Paul W. “Bear” Bryant, Maryland, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Alabama |
| 1941 | William H. Cowell (posthumously), New Hampshire | 1984 | Charles B. “Bud” Wilkinson, Oklahoma |
| 1946 | Grantland Rice, sportswriter | 1985 | Duffy Daugherty, Michigan State |
| 1947 | William A. Alexander, Georgia Tech | 1986 | Woody Hayes, Denison, Miami (Ohio), Ohio State |
| 1948 | Gilmour Dobie, North Dakota State, Washington, Navy, Cornell, Boston College | 1987 | Field Scovell, Cotton Bowl |
| Glenn S. “Pop” Warner, Georgia, Cornell, Carlisle, Pittsburgh, Stanford, Temple | 1988 | G. Herbert McCracken, Allegheny, Lafayette | |
| Robert C. Zuppke, Illinois | 1989 | David Nelson, Delaware | |
| 1949 | Richard C. Harlow, Penn State, Colgate, Western Maryland, Harvard | 1990 | Len Casanova, Oregon |
| 1950 | No award given | 1991 | Bob Blackman, Denver, Dartmouth, Illinois, Cornell |
| 1951 | DeOrmond “Tuss” McLaughry, Westminster, Amherst, Brown, Dartmouth | 1992 | Charles McClendon, LSU |
| 1952 | A.N. “Bo” McMillin, Indiana | 1993 | Keith Jackson, ABC-TV |
| 1953 | Lou Little, Georgetown, Columbia | 1994 | Bob Devaney, Nebraska, Wyoming |
| 1954 | Dana X. Bible, Mississippi College, LSU, Texas A&M, Nebraska, Texas | 1995 | John Merritt, Jackson State, Tennessee State |
| 1955 | Joseph J. Tomlin, founder, Pop Warner Football | 1996 | Chuck Neinas, College Football Association |
| 1956 | No award given | 1997 | Ara Parseghian, Miami (Ohio), Northwestern, Notre Dame |
| 1957 | Gen. Robert R. Neyland, Tennessee | 1998 | Bob Reade, Augustana (Ill.) |
| 1958 | Bernie Bierman, Mississippi A&M, Tulane, Minnesota | 1999 | Bo Schembechler, Miami (Ohio), Michigan |
| 1959 | Dr. John W. Wilce, Ohio State | 2000 | Tom Osborne, Nebraska |
| 1960 | Harvey J. Harman, Haverford, University of the South, Pennsylvania, Rutgers | 2001 | Vince Dooley, Georgia |
| 1961 | Ray Eliot, Illinois | 2002 | Joe Paterno, Penn State |
| 1962 | E.E. “Tad” Wieman, Michigan, Princeton, Maine | 2003 | LaVell Edwards, Brigham Young |
| 1963 | Andrew Kerr, Stanford, Washington & Jefferson, Colgate, Lebanon Valley | 2004 | Ron Schipper, Central (Iowa) |
| 1964 | Don Faurot, Missouri | 2005 | Hayden Fry, North Texas, SMU, Iowa |
| 1965 | Harry Stuhldreher, Wisconsin | 2006 | Grant Teaff, McMurry, Angelo State, Baylor |
| 1966 | Bernie H. Moore, LSU | 2007 | Bill Curry, Georgia Tech, Alabama, Kentucky |
| 1967 | Jess Neely, Southwestern, Clemson, Rice | 2008 | Bill Walsh, San Francisco 49ers, Stanford |
| 1968 | Abe Martin, TCU | 2009 | John Gagliardi, Carroll (Mont.), St. John’s (Minn.) |
| 1969 | Charles A. “Rip” Engle, Brown, Penn State | 2010 | Darrell Royal, Mississippi State, Washington, Texas |
| 1970 | Lynn “Pappy” Waldorf, Syracuse, Oklahoma City, Kansas, Oklahoma A&M, Kansas State, Northwestern, California | 2011 | Bobby Bowden, Samford, West Virginia, Florida State |
| 1971 | Bill Murray, Delaware, Duke | 2012 | Fisher DeBerry, Air Force |
| 1972 | Jack Curtice, Stanford | 2013 | Frosty Westering, Parsons, Lea College, Pacific Lutheran |
| 1973 | Lloyd Jordan, Amherst, Harvard | 2014 | R.C. Slocum, Texas A&M |
| 1974 | Alonzo S. “Jake” Gaither, Florida A&M | 2015 | Ken Hatfield, Air Force, Arkansas, Clemson, Rice |
| 1975 | Gerald B. Zornow, business executive | 2016 | John Cooper, Tulsa, Arizona State, Ohio State |
| 1976 | No award given | 2017 | Don Nehlen, Bowling Green, West Virginia |
| 1977 | Floyd “Ben” Schwartzwalder, Muhlenberg, Syracuse | 2018 | Frank Broyles, Missouri, Arkansas |
| 1978 | Tom Hamilton, Navy, Pittsburgh | 2019 | Marv Levy, Buffalo Bills |
| 1979 | H.O. “Fritz” Crisler, Minnesota, Princeton, Michigan | 2020 | Dick Tomey, Arizona, Hawaii, San Jose State |
| 1980 | No award given | 2022 | Mel Tjeerdsma, Austin College, Northwest Missouri State |
| 1981 | Fred Russell, sportswriter | 2023 | Roy Kidd, Eastern Kentucky |
| 1982 | Eddie Robinson, Grambling | 2024 | Larry Kehres, Mount Union |
For more information about the AFCA, visit www.AFCA.com. For more interesting articles, check out The Insider and subscribe to our weekly email.
If you are interested in more in-depth articles and videos, please become an AFCA member. You can find out more information about membership and specific member benefits on the AFCA Membership Overview page. If you are ready to join, please fill out the AFCA Membership Application.
