WVU football's first-ever 1,000-yard rusher passes away at 80 years old

One of the true legends of the West Virginia football program has passed away.

The university shared on Monday the news that former WVU football standout Garrett Ford Sr. died on Sunday night in Charlotte, North Carolina at the age of 80. Ford Sr. played for the Mountaineers between 1964-1967, becoming the program's first-ever single-season 1,000-yard rusher in 1966. He also held the program record for most all-purpose yards for over 40 years after tallying 341 yards against the Pitt Panthers in 1965, a record which has only been topped by Steve Slaton and Tavon Austin since.

"Dad died peacefully last night," said Ford's son, Garrett Jr., on Monday. "He was wearing a West Virginia shirt when the people from the funeral home came today to pick him up. They asked us why he was wearing a West Virginia shirt down here, and it's because West Virginia was his life. He just loved his time there."

Ford was also instrumental in breaking the color barrier for WVU when football began to integrate, showing up on campus just one season after Dick Leftridge and Roger Alford became the first black players in program history, and arrived on campus as one of fewer than 20 back students at the school.

After his playing career at WVU, he spent two seasons with the Denver Broncos, who were then apart of the now-defunct American Football League. He would then return to WVU as the program's first-ever black assistant coach underneath Bobby Bowden, before eventually becoming an academic counselor in 1977, assistant athletic director in 1985 and associate athletic director in 2002. While in academic support services, he created several academic programs still in use by WVU today, including bringing back former players who left school early to earn their degrees.

"I wanted to have more of an impact on the kids' lives," Ford Sr. once said. "I wanted to do something that got them situated, and I wanted to make sure they made progress every semester toward their degrees and that they got to learn a lot of stuff off the field, as well as on it."

"Garrett had more to do with the success of West Virginia's African American students - athletically, academically, and socially - than any other person, and he always brought a student-centered perspective to athletic administration," said Craig Walker, who spent 14 years working with Ford as the department's assistant athletic director for finance and administration from 1981-95.

Ford's son, Garrett Jr., also played four years for the Mountaineers, rushing for a career-high 756 yards with six touchdowns during his freshman season in 1989. His daughter Tracie also had a short stint with the school's track and field program, and is the mother of former WVU standout and current NFL player Bryce Ford-Wheaton, who finished his career in Morgantown with 1,867 yards and 15 touchdowns.