Garrett Ford Sr.

"Galaxy" Garrett Ford, an assistant athletic director at WVU since 1985, was an outstanding running back for the Mountaineers during the mid-196, becoming the first Mountaineer to top both 2,000 career rushing yards and 1,000 yards in a single season. He tallied 2,166 yards from 1965-67, the WVU career rushing record at the time, with eight 100-yard games and 120 career points.

His 453 career rushing attempts are still second highest in Mountaineer history and his 236 attempts in 1966 is currently the WVU single-season standard.

In 1965, the Washington, D.C., native led the team in rushing with 894 yards. His 1,068 yards as a junior in 1966 placed him first at that time and is still the fifth best on the WVU record books. Ford is one of only three running backs to lead WVU in season total offense over the course of the last 35 years. He accomplished that with 1,082 yards of total offense in 1966.

Perhaps his best performance came in a 63-48 win against Pitt on October 2, 1965, when he rushed for a school record 133 yards in the second quarter to lead the Mountaineers to victory. On the day, Ford tallied 192 yards on 18 carries and totalled 268 all-purpose yards. A second-team All-American in 1966, Ford played for coaches Gene Corum in 1965, and Jim Carlen in 1966-67. WVU was 14-13-3 during Ford's three seasons in Morgantown. After college, Ford was drafted in the third round of the NFL draft by the Denver Broncos. He played two seasons with Denver before returning to WVU as assistant football coach in 1970. He served as West Virginia's academic counselor from 1977-85 before being named to his current post.

Ford received his bachelor's degree from WVU in physical education in 1969 and earned a master's degree in guidance and counseling from WVU in 1973. He was born May 4, 1945, in Washington, D.C., and is a graduate of that city's DeMatha Catholic High School. He is a member of DeMatha's Hall of Fame. Ford and his wife Thelma currently reside in Morgantown and have two grown children, Tracie and Garrett Jr., both WVU graduates.

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