By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

GREENVILLE — The Green Wave football program will have a new leader. After a series of interviews, Sean Ford will be the new head coach for Greenville football. Ford was introduced to the parents on Jan. 10 and has met with the players on Jan. 9.

Ford said he has been preparing for this chance for a long time. When he saw Greenville had an opening, he didn’t hesitate to apply.

“I’ve always wanted to be a head coach. I’ve always had aspirations. I’ve worked to prepare myself for this position. When the position was announced, I jumped on it immediately. Not only because I believe in myself, but I believe in the Greenville kids, I believe in the Greenville community. I think there’s a lot of potential here to make some improvements,” Ford said.

Ford played high school football at Tippecanoe. After that, he went right into coaching. When he was 21, he was the defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator and the running backs coach at Bethel from 2016-18. In 2019, he spent a year at Tippecanoe as the defensive backs coach. In 2020, he was the defensive coordinator at Tri-Village. After a few years off, he returned to Tri-Village to be the linebackers and the wide receivers coach this past season.

Greenville Athletic Director Aaron Shaffer said Ford stood out amongst the applicants with his ability to convey his message well. From the interviews and from talking with others that know Ford, Shaffer could see what kind of coach and person Ford is and what he has envisioned for Greenville.

“Sean brings an energy and a vision that’s a little different than what we’ve had. He did a great job just interacting, he answered questions well. I know as we explored references, and even today, I talked to some guys that knew him through Tippecanoe. The overwhelming theme when we were looking at him was that he related well to kids and kids responded to his message. He’s got a great vision for what Greenville football can be,” Shaffer said.

Ford said when he met with the players, he had them fill out a questionnaire about why they play the game. He was impressed with the answers and was thrilled to see they all wanted to put the work in to improve.

They will start with the fundamentals. Ford said from a physical aspect, getting back to the fundamentals will be the first step towards getting the program on the right track.

“Getting back to the fundamentals is going to be key to our success. I feel like the kids, they want to improve and there’s a will to improve. That’s half the battle. Being able to step into a role of harnessing that potential and coaching them up on some fundamentals and trying to take them to the next step. It’s very do-able here,” Ford said.

Ford also said he envisions Greenville football to be smart, disciplined and tough. Smart and disciplined were the first two mentioned.

These are things that are not only important to winning games, but also things that are important in life.

“Most of the time, people beat themselves. If you can do what you’re supposed to do, more often than the other team, you’re going to give yourself the best opportunity to win. Discipline is absolutely critical to success not only on the football field, but in life,” Ford said.

The mission, the vision and the values go beyond winning. Ford does want to win games at Greenville, but it’s more than that.

Ford’s vision statement said when a player hangs his helmet for the last time, he wants the player to be able to say the experience playing football was worth it. The experience made them a better person and made memories that will last for a long time.

Ford said he wants kids who want to be in the program, who want to compete, who believe in the program and in each other and who want to be a part of something special.

The players that showed up to the meetings are just the start. Their buy-in will only help grow the program to start, but they will then need to put in the work to turn things around.

“The kids that were here tonight, they’re the example. The example that they set walking the halls, the enthusiasm that they bring and show about the new football program, it’s going to sell itself,” Ford said. “There’s going to be a lot of belief, there’s going to be a lot of enthusiasm, but it’s going to take a lot of work,” Ford said.

Ford is currently a history teacher at Tri-Village.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]