Entering 2025-26: 3rd Year
Position: Defensive Coordinator
Jody Ford enters his third year at Campbellsville University, but Ford is in his 31st year of coaching college football and this will be his 14th season as a Defensive Coordinator. Jody was at Texas Lutheran University as a Recruiting Coordinator and an assistant coach on defense for 8 years with one of those years working as an assistant at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio where the Cardinals went 10-3, won the Southland Conference Championship, and went 2 rounds deep in the national playoffs. Before UIW, Ford was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at TLU for 5 years where in 2019 TLU went 8-2 and played for the conference championship.
Before arriving at TLU, Ford was the Secondary Coach and Special Teams Coordinator at Missouri Valley College for the 2016 season where the Vikings went to the National Playoffs and led the conference in every defensive category.
Ford was the Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator at Central Methodist University in Missouri from 2012 to 2015 where his defenses set records in tackles for loss and sacks. He coached All-Americans such as Defensive Lineman Matt Fraley who was also part of the All-State Good Works Team and Cornerback Kyler Crawford. Also, the defensive player of the week came from the CMU defense 5 of 11 weeks. Middle linebacker Tim Cummins led the conference in tackles and the defense went 10 straight quarters without giving up a touchdown and had 5 straight second half shutouts.
Before CMU, Ford was the Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator at Mayville State University in North Dakota. There Ford coached DeMarcus Rideaux, a blue chip All-American who went on to spend time with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Before becoming a Head Coach and Coordinator, Ford had stops at Quincy University in Illinois, Culver-Stockton College in Missouri, and Occidental College in Los Angeles. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Central Missouri and his master’s at Northeaster State University in Oklahoma.
Jody is a proud cancer survivor and is originally from Frankford, Missouri (population 474).
