‘Pack your bags’: Why playing Penn State in Orange Bowl means everything to Notre Dame RB Devyn Ford

DANIA BEACH, Fla. — Devyn Ford has a 90-second voice recording of the last words his grandmother, Barbara Clinkscales, ever told him from a hospital bed as she was suffering from heart failure. In it, she commanded him to score his first collegiate touchdown as a freshman running back at Penn State.

So he did.

Clinkscales died on Aug. 21, 2019. Ten days later, Ford, a freshman, ripped off an 81-yard touchdown in the Nittany Lions’ season opener. His season opener. Career opener. The first college football game he ever played in. He pointed to the sky when he reached the end zone.

He pointed to Clinkscales.

“I felt her during the run and everything,” he told Blue & Gold.

Ford’s parents split up when he was young. He lived with his dad and grandma in Virginia. His two older brothers lived with his mom in Maryland. That so, Clinkscales was Ford’s motherly figure. His father, Anthony Ford, was often busy working as a moving truck driver. That left Devyn home alone with Clinkscales.

He is who he is, a Penn State graduate getting another degree from Notre Dame, the eldest statesmen in the Fighting Irish running back room, a player-coach and one of the wisest guys on the roster per quarterback Riley Leonard and running backs coach Deland McCullough, because of her.

“That was her kid,” Anthony told Blue & Gold. “She taught him the politeness and respectfulness and everything like that. She didn’t take no mess. I couldn’t tell him nothing. He had to go to her. If wanted something, go to your grandma.”

‘Pack Your Bags’

In 2022, Devyn wanted a fresh start. He wasn’t playing much for Penn State, and he was falling behind in his studies. He had 7 carries in PSU’s first three games of that season, all of them coming in a Week 3 blowout of Auburn.

Devyn approached the Nittany Lions coaching staff about the idea of redshirting with the intent to transfer but remaining on the team to be a veteran presence for young running backs like Nicholas Singleton, a 1,000-yard single-season rusher who Notre Dame will see in the Orange Bowl tonight.

Nope. The Penn State coaches wouldn’t have it.

“That sounds like you’re quitting the team,” Anthony recalled them telling his son.

“‘I’m not quitting,'” Devyn rebutted. “‘I just want to redshirt and stay with the team and help and graduate.'”

That was followed by three words that set in motion Devyn’s relocation to Notre Dame and the culmination of a six-year career with either the penultimate or ultimate game if it coming at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Pack your bags.

“Just like that,” Anthony said. “Pack your bags.”

Devyn did, for South Bend, where his playing time for the Notre Dame offense has been just as scarce as it was in State College, Pa., but his value has been appreciated much more.

There isn’t anyone at Notre Dame, players or coaches, who isn’t a better person for having been around Devyn.

“He’s extremely positive,” McCullough told Blue & Gold. “If we need him in practice to go six plays straight to take some wear and tear off of the guys, that’s what he’ll do. He’s ready for anything. He’s really a master at what he’s supposed to do.”

That mostly shines through on special teams. Devyn is the fourth or fifth wheel in the Notre Dame running back hierarchy. He’s been on the field for 110 special teams plays, though, 12th most of anyone on the Irish roster. He’s logged 69 kick coverage appearances, sixth most of all of his teammates.

“We call him ‘Coach Ford’,” Leonard said. “He’s like a coach out there. He understands his role to a T. He’s a guy who’s very trustworthy. So whenever his number is called, we know he’s going to know exactly what to do.”

Notre Dame linebacker and team captain Jack Kiser, one of the 11 players who have been more of a special teams presence for the Fighting Irish than Devyn, called the Penn State transfer a “tremendous asset to the program.

“He’s a guy that, whatever you ask him to do, he’s going do it, he’s not going to say anything about it and he’s going to put all of his effort into it,” Kiser said. “And he’s honestly become such a leader on the special teams unit as well. Such an asset.”

Set Up For Success

Devyn doesn’t have much ill will for the people he enjoyed spending time with at Penn State. Many of the players there are still his friends. He publicly congratulated them when they beat SMU the day after Notre Dame’s first-round College Football Playoff victory over Indiana.

Nittany Lion eyes light up when asked about him.

“He’s a great kid,” Penn State senior linebacker Tyler Elsdon said. “In the locker room, he’s an awesome guy to talk to. He’s fun to be around. People love him. He’s very liked. Then on the field, he’s a special talent as well. He made plays at Penn State, which was really cool to see. Just being able to see him again, it’s going to be cool.”

“He’s a good player,” redshirt junior tight end Khalil Dinkins added. “Nothing really to say bad about him. I guess things just didn’t work out for him [at Penn State].”

Understatement. Devyn hasn’t forgotten the way things ended for him at his former institution. He called it “the other school” in his interview with Blue & Gold.

Devyn made a point to get in front of the entire Notre Dame team in the lead up to the Orange Bowl to explain how much this one means to him with a hope of providing perspective for his peers.

It worked.

“He’s been through some rough times over there at Penn State,” sophomore wide receiver Jordan Faison said. “He didn’t feel fully respected by things people did over there. He has extra motivation for this.”

It’s a game he’s been wishing for ever since he got to Notre Dame ahead of the 2023 season. It’s a game his grandmother would have anticipated even more than he has. She was his biggest fan. Now she’s his “why” — his purpose for playing. His purpose for being.

Without her, this dream matchup wouldn’t be possible.

“I learned a lot of basic lessons and golden rules of life through my grandmother that carry on throughout my life now,” Devyn said. “I still think about it to this day. I thank her and appreciate her for putting me on this path and setting me up for success.”