If there's anybody who truly understands what a special football talent Ailym Ford is for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, it would be a current UTC assistant who during his own time playing for the Mocs got an up-close look at a similar running back.
So, yes, Jacob Huesman knows.
Huesman, the tight ends coach who has been part of fourth-year head coach Rusty Wright's UTC staff from the start, was a three-time Southern Conference offensive player of the year from 2013-15 and a four-year starter at quarterback for the Mocs. For part of that time, he shared the backfield Derrick Craine, who rushed for career totals of 2,997 yards and 31 touchdowns from 2013-16 and received All-America recognition as a senior.
Craine and Ford are similarly built — Craine was 5-foot-10, 205 pounds as a senior, while fourth-year junior Ford is listed as an inch shorter but eight pounds heavier — and both have shown an ability to thrive in chaos, with hard-nosed running styles that lead to a plethora of yards after contact.
"I've not really seen two backs runs as hard as those two guys," Huesman said. "They both do a great job in pass protection, which is not something that ever gets talked about, but they both understand the game. It's been fun to see Ailym over the last three or four years start to understand that much better and really become an asset in that regard, but they're just dependable guys that can help you in all facets of the game."
Staff photo / UTC running back Derrick Craine scores on a touchdown run against Wofford on Nov. 12, 2016, at Finley Stadium. Craine set the UTC single-season rushing record with 1,251 yards in 2015, but current UTC standout Ailym Ford could break that mark this season.In last week's 41-21 win over Mercer, Ford scored a touchdown and gained 123 yards on 22 difficult carries against the Bears, who were unbeaten in the SoCon and ranked 11th in both Football Championship Subdivision polls at the time. In the process, he became just the fifth player in UTC history to go over 3,000 rushing yards.
He also passed Craine, who totaled 2,997 yards on 542 carries but still holds the single-season rushing record for UTC with 1,251 yards in 2015. Ford is at 823 rushing yards for 2022 with four regular-season games remaining — plus a potential postseason with the Mocs 6-1 overall, 4-0 in the SoCon to sit atop the league standings alongside Samford, and ranked sixth by FCS coaches and seventh in the Stats Perform Top 25.
The push for the program's first playoff appearance since 2016 continues at 2 p.m. Saturday at Furman (6-2, 4-1), which is No. 24 in the Stats Perform rankings.
However much he might be able to appreciate Ford, Huesman didn't play a role in getting the former South Carolina prep star to UTC. Actually, none of the current coaches did, as Ford signed with UTC on Dec. 19, 2018, two days before Wright was officially announced as head coach at his alma mater.
If there is anything that better speaks to the person Ford is, that would be it.
"That's a cool story, that he was able to go through all the (stuff) that they've gone through, coaching changes or whatever," said quarterback Preston Hutchinson, a graduate transfer from Eastern Michigan. "He's stayed and he's led, and you see the way he runs, it just motivates everybody else to fight for extra yards. You just love seeing that, no matter who you are on the team, or if you're in the crowd. You love seeing guys just dragging defenders like that.
"Nothing starts without Ailym."
Ford's career in Chattanooga has started to become a sort of urban legend, because in some parts it doesn't seem true. He was a Freshman All-America selection in 2019 despite missing two games at the end of the season with a torn ACL, but a few months later he was seen on video running with tires, pushing vans and doing brick work to be prepared for the 2020 season. The Mocs played one game that fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Ford rushing for 92 yards in the 13-10 loss to Western Kentucky.
Work ethic is just another way in which Craine and Ford are similar. Craine would once go work out and eat with the offensive linemen, and he was a winter workout award recipient within the program.
"Ailym and Derrick were just two of the hardest-working kids, and it shows in how they run the football and all the extra work put in," Huesman said. "Sometimes you've got to try and slow those guys down. I've never seen somebody come back from a knee injury that fast in my life, and he was doing what the trainers asked him to do and then some because Ailym just wants to be on the field.
"He never wants to take any games off, any plays off, and Craine was the same way. Both of those guys in the weight room for at least 30 minutes after every workout just grinding and doing something extra to improve their skill set. They've had some injury setbacks along the way, but they both came back so fast because they were so invested in what the trainers were telling them to do, and then on top of that, they were doing extra."
Ford now sits at 3,067 rushing yards, which ranks fifth in UTC history, and 28 touchdown runs, which is fourth. The player at the top of both career lists for the Mocs is Huesman, who rushed for 4,051 yards and 43 scores but has said he "can't wait" to see Ford potentially eclipse his records.
In the meantime, those having a chance to perform with Ford simply marvel at the player — and the person — he is.
"Ailym is one of the best, if not the best, teammate I've ever had," offensive lineman Nick Cerimele said. "He comes in every day, works his tail off, doesn't complain or anything like that. He's always positive, he's always heads up, a heads-up good guy.
"It's just an honor to block for a guy like that because it makes our jobs easier. All we've got to do is block our butts off for that guy, and we know it's really rewarding."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.