TAMPA — Darshaun Ford is on a mission, and this year it will begin with spring football at another school. He’s now at Clermont East Ridge after transferring from Groveland South Lake, but he got things rolling a little early on Saturday.
Ford, a 5-11, 182-pound cornerback, earned the 2013 MVP award for defensive backs at the NUC Combine at Larry Sanders Progress Village Sports Complex, where he shut down most of the top receivers he went up against.
“I think at first I came out a little bit weak and I started thinking I better go hard because there are a lot of people watching and I’m trying to get to the next level, not for just football but for my education also,” Ford said. “So I got back out there and went hard.”
He got so antsy to get on the field, he kept cutting in line to get extra reps, but no one stopped him.“Yeah, they kept calling ‘next, next, next,’ so I kept jumping up there," he said. "I was like, ‘I’m fixin to go somewhere. I don’t care. They can keep calling next, but I’m going up' ”
Ford had gone through a lot of hoops two years ago when he moved from Gainesville to South Lake, and figured he would get as much scrutiny after transferring to East Ridge. His family has officially moved into the East River zone and he's comfortable with his setting.
Several players have left South Lake after the firing of former head coach Willie Banks. Fellow defensive back Marcell Harris, one of the top safeties in the country for 2013, has transferred to Orlando Dr. Phillips for his senior year.
"It was kinda hard," Ford said. "I had to move into the East Ridge zone and now I'm just getting with the team working out and getting back in the rhythm of football and working out with a new program.
"I think we should do good. We've got good returning players, like Brian Mills (RB/LB). I'll probably play wide receiver and DB."
His recruiting has not yet taken off, but he expects to see more attention into and after the spring session.
"I'm getting some letters ... nothing official though, really," Ford said.
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