CLEMSON – Jacoby Ford is, to put it lightly, very fast.

So fast, in fact, that the former NCAA National Champion ran a 60-second dash faster than most people can put on a pair of socks. 

So fast, that he holds one of the 14 quickest 40-yard dash times in NFL Combine history.

That speed is how, in his first game in a Clemson football uniform in 2006, Ford made four helpless Florida Atlantic defenders leap at his coattails on the way to a 92-yard touchdown kickoff return. 

It’s why his wide receivers coach Dabo Swinney gave him the nickname “Scooby,” short for Scooby Doo, due to his never-ceasing, cartoonish, quick-stepping feet.

Ford’s propensity to speed, however, did not pay off one day this winter, when he was too slow to answer two calls from Swinney, now Clemson’s head coach of almost two decades.

Ford’s phone buzzed. It buzzed again, showing Swinney’s Caller ID. 

At the time, the former Oakland Raiders wide receiver was cleaning his Boca Raton, Fla., house — one that he shared with his wife, Nicole, and daughters Luna and Zara. 

When the Florida native wrapped up his cleaning, he checked his phone log. Two missed calls, no text.

That was weird. 

“I ended up calling because he didn’t text me, which I thought was different because he usually doesn’t do that,” Ford said. “So my antennas were up. I called him back, left a voice mail. I didn’t really know what to say.”

It pays to be quick.

Minutes later, Swinney ended the game of phone tag–probably the only kind of tag he could win against Ford–with a call, and an accompanying song.

“Scooby, Dooby, doo, where are you?” Swinney crooned their inside joke. 

The coach took a beat, concluding his song, then stopped Ford in his tracks. 

“Are you ready to come home?” Swinney asked.

The Tigers’ leader was offering his former player–one that stuck with him through a rocky interim term as head coach, and rescued him from a quickly heating seat with a game-winning overtime catch against No. 8 Miami in 2009–a chance to coach at Clemson.

“Yes sir,” Ford responded, through smiling tears. “I just had some tears of joy with the fam. I mean, my daughter didn’t know what was going on at the time, and the newborn didn’t know, obviously, either. But you know, it was a beautiful call, and it was just so surreal, just to be able to come back. It’s a place I’ve wanted to be back at for a while now.”

After his six year NFL career that included stints with the Raiders, Tennessee Titans and New York Jets came to a close, Ford transitioned into the coaching profession in 2018. He trained NFL-hopefuls for the Combine with Clemson alum Tony Villani at XPE sports, focusing on 40-yard dash preparation.

Next, before leading West Boca Raton high school to two consecutive state titles as a wide receivers coach, he held the same position at his alma mater, Cardinal Newman High, where he scored 10 receiving touchdowns as a senior.

At this point, Ford has spent the majority of his life in Florida, but he always made sure to keep in touch with the people that make Clemson “home,” including Swinney’s three sons, wife and parents.

“I don’t know many people that can just go to his house and be around him and his family,” Ford said. “Just to be able to have that relationship with him and Kathleen and Will and Drew and Clay. That whole family, super thankful for them. The whole family I love and that’s who I call family here.”

Now, as an offensive player development and assistant wide receivers coach for the Tigers, Ford will get to work with one of the highest-rated groups of wideouts in the country, a unit that features All-American hopefuls T.J. Moore and Bryant Wesco Jr., among others.

But, maybe in an even rarer situation than coaching two of college football’s most elite pass-catchers, Ford will also get to work with co-wide receivers assistant Will Swinney, and wideout Clay Swinney, two “family members” that he knew long before they could run or explain slant or hitch routes.

“I knew them as kids, now they’re men,” Ford said. “Will’s married, Drew’s married, Clay will be married soon, so it’s literally watching my boys grow up. It’s awesome to see. It’s beautiful.”

After Swinney’s call, with the prospect of bringing his young family to Clemson permanently, Ford quickly headed north to the Upstate of South Carolina. In January, he was officially announced as one of 13 new Tiger coaching changes or additions ahead of the 2026 season. 

“I couldn’t think of a better place to be,” Ford said. “I’ve really seen the growth there. This was my last place that I came to visit, and I fell in love with it when nobody was here. I mean, it was a ghost town. Everybody was gone. There was nothing to do to sell me on, but Clemson sells itself.”

Ford would use his All-American speed to race home every time.