By Solomon Crenshaw Jr. | For the Birmingham Times
Maurice Ford was walking from the office of Fairfield High Preparatory School when he pondered the journey he’s taken the past17 years.
“This is a long way from Parker,” said Ford, the Tigers’ athletic director and head boys basketball coach.
In truth, Ford’s trip from legendary Arthur Harold Parker High School to the high school on Valley Road in Fairfield isn’t that far, a bit more than six miles elapsing a scant 11 minutes. But Ford’s journey took him from one basketball penthouse to another as he left Parker for Huntsville’s J.O. Johnson High School.
But when he unceremoniously found himself out of a job in the Rocket City, Ford came back to the Magic City suburb just west of Birmingham and fashioned it into a dynasty. He and his Tigers have reached the state championship game four times and have won the title three times since 2020, including their most recent effort to conclude the 2025-26 campaign.
That success has earned Ford and his team recognition from the Alabama State Legislature and the Jefferson County Commission, not to mention a parade in their honor through the streets of Fairfield. It also netted the athletic department Ford leads with a $25,000 athletic grant from Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Coming Back Home
“Leaving Parker and then coming back home … it’s been a long time,” the veteran coach said. “It’s been a long road.”
That road appeared to be closed after Ford led J.O. Johnson to the 2013 Class 4A Final Four. He was dismissed in July 2013 and replaced by Hall of Fame coach Jack Doss.
Ford shakes his head as he recalls the basketball program that greeted him upon his arrival.
“When I got here, the program wasn’t in good shape,” said Ford, whose record is 615 wins and 274 losses since 1997. “Coming from Parker to J.O. Johnson, just coming from the state championship, and then coming here, I had to start all over from the bottom. Players were not very … I’m not saying they weren’t good, but they weren’t disciplined. No fundamentals. Never been coached hard. Been able to do whatever they wanted to do. I had to restore discipline and … teach them how to win.”
Learning to Win
Ford recalls the first time his Tigers took on Wenonah, a long successful program from Birmingham City Schools. The coach was taken aback by cheers from his fans when Fairfield fell by six or seven points to Coach Cedric Lane and the Dragons.
“They come off the court and everybody’s (Fairfield fans are) clapping and the head principal’s clapping for us,” Ford recalled. “I’m like, What are you clapping for? We lost. ‘Well coach, they usually beat us by 65 or 70. I said, but we lost. Y’all just happy to be in the game. I’m not used to losing, especially to him, to Wenonah. No. I had to teach them how to win.
“The first year, we won a few games,” he said. “The second year, we were in the area with Parker and Wenonah, and they were loaded. Once we got out of the area with them (through realignment in the Alabama High School Athletic Association), we started getting some players coming in here. The middle school program started getting better. Then we started getting players. It just went from there.
“Once we got it right — and it took us a few years to get it there — but we crossed that off,” he said. “We’re expected to win now.”
Boosting Morale
But the success of the boys basketball team goes much farther than the hardwood.
“In actuality, it lifts the morale of the community,” said Dr. Regina Thomopson, superintendent of Fairfield City Schools. “It lets them know that we’re still thriving in spite of anything that they hear or naysayers may say. The championship lets them know that we’re still promoting success, and we’re still promoting goodness among our students as well as our staff.”
Ford said that the city of Fairfield needs a successful boys basketball program.
“A lot of times when you read stuff (about) Fairfield, it’s always negative,” he said. “There could be something that happened 10 blocks away. It has nothing to do with the school system but, some kind of way, (media) ties in Fairfield High School. Ain’t nothing to do with the school. It’s something down the street, two blocks over, three blocks over. But some kind of way they spin it back to the high school.”
Ford recalled an instance when the high school went on a precautionary lockdown because of a drug bust four blocks away. He said the focus of reports was that the school was on lockdown.
“They made it seem like something was happening at the school and parents are in an uproar,” the coach said. “Instead of coming out and telling the truth that it’s a drug bust four blocks from the school, you make it look like something’s happening at the school.
“That’s why I love winning because you can’t put a negative spin on this,” he said. “You’ve got to tell the truth because people see it for themselves.”
Time and patience
As pleased as Ford the boys basketball coach is to receive the $25,000 grant from Dick’s Sporting Goods, Ford the athletic director is even happier for what it will mean for the entire Tiger program. The first order of business is ordering uniforms for the various teams and arranging for transportation to away games.
“You think $25,000 sounds like a whole lot. It is a whole lot to us,” he said, “but once you start buying this and buying this and buying that and buying that, it goes. In another year, it’ll be gone.”
The success of boys basketball shows other Tiger sports what is possible. Ford said he’s hired young, energetic coaches to lead the squads. Those coaches may have to reach into the ranks of seventh and eighth graders to lay their foundation for success.
“It can happen, but it’ll take time,” the athletic director said. “Time and patience.”
