Hall of Famer, Robert Ford joined the Texas Southern football program in 2011 as the wide receivers assistant coach.   Ford came to TSU after spending more 17 years as a coach in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals coaching running backs, wide receivers and tight ends.  He coached All-Pro players in eight consecutive seasons, including Cowboys Michael Irvin, Jay Novacek and Alvin Harper; Dolphins Chris Chambers and OJ McDuffie; and Cardinals Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.  While with the Cowboys, Ford earned three Super Bowl rings in the 1990s.  

Ford also spent 16 years at the collegiate level, coaching running backs, wide receivers and tight ends. He coached at Texas A&M, Kansas, Mississippi State, Oregon State, New Mexico and Western Illinois, as well as at Texas Tech, where Sporting News called his unit “The Best Receiver Unit in America.”

He is a 1973 graduate of the University of Houston, where he earned three letters as a wide receiver and running back and is in the school’s Hall of Fame. He is also in the Central Texas Sports Hall of Fame and the hall of fame of his high school alma mater, Belton High School.  As a player, he is the only participant at any competitive level to have two 99-yard touchdown receptions in his career.

Ford received a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from the UH in 1973 and his Masters in Athletic Administration from Western Illinois in 1974.