Ward Brings Relationship-Based Approach to Manhattan

By: D. Scott Fritchen

K-State wide receivers coach Thad Ward says that he is excited for the "challenge of taking these young men to a different stage" as he prepares for his first spring practice with the Wildcats. Ward, a 20-year coaching veteran with stops in the Midwest and on the East Coast, has spent his first two weeks on staff building relationships with his players and is eager to enhance their talents, and has enjoyed visiting with recruits.

"If I can get a player to be consistent with his traits and habits, I can make him exceptional on the field," he says. "I really believe that. That'll take care of itself."

The 43-year-old Ward has experience either as a wide receivers coach, running backs coach, or passing game coordinator at Western Illinois (2005-10), Gardner-Webb (2011), Western Michigan (2012), Northern Illinois (2013-15), Illinois (2016-18), and Temple (2019-21).

Ward played three seasons at UCF from 1999 to 2001 and was the team's second-leading receiver his senior season and has an eye for developing players. Most recently at Temple, he coached Jaden Blue to a pair of All-AAC honors as he became the first player in school history to reach 1,000 receiving yards in a season.

Ward spoke with K-State Sports Extra's D. Scott Fritchen about his coaching career:

D. SCOTT FRITCHEN: Can you tell me about your family, your wife, Jocelyn and your children, Jayda, Journie and Thad, Jr.?

THAD WARD: When you're moving a lot, you have to be a tight-knit group. We're really tight. If you ask me, the best thing about me is just having an awesome family. It's a family decision anytime we do anything. I've been blessed. Jocelyn is a coach's wife. I met her at high school in 1994. She is very supportive and always has been. I couldn't have made it 20 years without that. Jayda is 22 and she is awesome. She'll graduate in May and move to Houston to become a labor-delivery nurse. She's scheduled to start on June 27, but I'm hoping we can get one lengthy vacation. Normally coaches get a vacation in late June and July. Jayda is awesome. She's one of my best friends. Thad Jr. is 16, a junior, and after playing JV basketball most of the year, he just scored his first varsity point last week. He was pumped up, man. He had a really good game last week and my wife sent it to me online so I could watch it. I'm just proud of him. It's tough for him, obviously, because he's formed a lot of relationships. Obviously, being in New Jersey, there's a lot to do. He's a great family kid. My baby, Journie, is a 13-year-old with very exquisite taste. To be honest with you, I'd been offered jobs different places, but my wife was very, very happy about this place, which is awesome. Living in New Jersey and Philadelphia and being that close to New York and having so much to do, that was different for us. This is a great town.

FRITCHEN: What attracted you to K-State?

WARD: I was coached by Brian Anderson and what really intrigued me was Coach Klieman. We've always known of each other and have coached with guys who've known each of us as well, so we've had a lot of cross-over. But I'd never really sat down and had a long formal conversation with Coach Chris Klieman. I've always had respect for him and his culture and programs and their success on the field. To be honest with you, I want to be a head coach one day, and what better guy to work under than a guy like Coach Klieman because you want your coaching to show up on the field. I've worked around some great guys like Lovie Smith, but Coach Klieman has won four national titles, so that was intriguing before I even got to know every little thing about Coach Klieman as a person. That intrigued me. Just the culture of this institution, just always having, as I see it, the underdog mentality, but always finding a way to win, intrigued me. It's a blue-collar place, a blue-collar flavor, which I'm interested in being a part of. That really resonated with me. Then I found out about our fan base and how great it was. I got a call from my athletic director at Temple, and he had been at Texas for many years, and he just raved about our fan base. That's how and why K-State intrigued me beyond Coach Klieman.

FRITCHEN: Brian Anderson coached you at Coffeyville Community College in 1998. What was Anderson like as a coach and how did that relationship continue over the years?

WARD: As a coach, BA was young and awesome. I was telling a recruit last week, that's what I strive to be. If you look at it, I met BA when I was 18 years old. I'm now 43. When you tell a recruit it's relationships for life, that's what it is. He's been a mentor to me forever. Whether it's calling me up to say hello or suggest something, and whether it's me calling him from all these places like Illinois, he's been a constant mentor for me. That's what I strive to be every day for my players. He's been awesome, man. Even before all this stuff came about, he's always been very supportive. We're forever grateful for that relationship. That's how it all started. Young, energetic, and a go-getter — that's what I remember about BA. Obviously from there he just kind of moved up. I remember being coached by BA like it was yesterday. He took a liking to me back then, so it's just been awesome to see it come to fruition that I'd be back in Kansas working with BA.

FRITCHEN: You seem really energetic. What's your message to recruits in their living room?

WARD: I always start with my family, talk about my values, and talk about how I'm really going to help this young man. I always talk about developing a man, and I want to be around guys who want to be developed holistically. I tell the family it's not just about football with me; it's going to be all about developing as a person on and off the field. Then we go into all the great players I've been able to touch and be a part of, and how great K-State is, but I want to tell them how it's going to be. I'm up front with them about how I'm going to coach them hard and I'm going to love them hard as well. I wake up every morning and coaching is what I love to do. I tell them about Coach Klieman, and I tell them about this great offense that Coach Collin Klein is getting ready to operate. But what I most share with a recruit is how I'm going to develop him as a person. If I can get a player to be consistent with his traits and habits, I can make him exceptional on the field. I really believe that. That'll take care of itself. Develop a man and football will take care of itself.

FRITCHEN: What do you like about this K-State offense?

WARD: I love the different nuances and that it's not a one-trick pony. Right now, we're going through and installing. In our meetings, you listen to everybody. It's not just Collin and I talking about the passing game. It's also Coach Conor Riley and everybody else. Everybody knows what's going on and that's very important. It's important for me to know what's going on in the running game. We're all talking about how the offense can be better. We have a great running game. The proof is in the pudding. We have a really good approach in the passing game. From a receiver standpoint, this passing game gives you the chance to show all your attributes, whether it's the screen game, the quick game, the play-action game, you're going to be able to run real pro-style routes, not a thousand bubble routes. Our receivers block, which is awesome, and we're going to be even better at it this year, and we're going to be going down the field. You're really going to be able to develop. Those are some things I like about our offense.

FRITCHEN: One of the things Coach Klieman mentioned that he's excited about is your coaching style. Exactly what is your coaching style?

WARD: I'm very energetic, very passionate, and I coach hard, which is not being mean but being passionate. I love my guys. You're going to see me jumping around on the field. I'm very competitive. I know it all starts with relationships, which enables me to be able to coach my guys the way I coach them. I haven't started talking football yet with my guys. It's about getting to know me and knowing how I'm coming at you and why I push this button and understanding it's all for your best interest. What do you want? I'm going to help you get there. I want to hear you tell me what you want. Now I'm going to help you and hold you to it. My coaching style, man, you're going to see someone very energetic, passionate and positive, too. That's a little different. Sometimes you can always dwell on the negative, but when I see something positive, I like to call it out as well. Positive reinforcement is important. I tell them you won't like me every day, but you'll love me all the time.

FRITCHEN: Based upon your resume, it looks like you perhaps have Florida, Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania ties. What are your big recruiting areas?

WARD: In the past, I've recruited a lot of different places, but as of late, I've recruited South Florida, Tampa, and over the past 20 years, I've recruited pretty much the whole state of Florida. I've recruited Alabama, South Georgia, Detroit, Chicago, and St. Louis. I did a really good job in St. Louis when I was at Illinois, especially our first two years. This is going to sound arrogant, but I'm a plug-and-play guy. You can plug me in anywhere you want and I'm going to always be able to attract kids because it's all about people. Whether or not you know the coach, I'll find out how to get an in. I have a decent personality so I can get in, and I have a good message, which is true. I'm honest with kids and truthful about where they stand and where I see them at. Whether it's Chicago or Florida, you have to be able to resonate and talk to these young men and really get their attention. I can do a great job with that.

FRITCHEN: You've obviously coached many fine wide receivers over the years. For instance, how did you see 6-foot, 190-pound Jadan Blue develop as a player?

WARD: Jaden, I love him. He's a great kid. He went from three receptions to 95. The kid was a really good player and talented. The last couple places I've been they've had talent, they just weren't developed as a technician. I'm a technician. They just needed some structure and they needed to be developed holistically. With Jaden, man, there was the relationship piece, again, getting kids to trust you. Some players have had a lot of coaches, so you have to be able to resonate, and that's what we started with Jaden. I got to know him and his family — same thing I'm doing with our players right now. I spent a lot of time with him, whether I was on the phone making sure he was doing his homework, and he was super intelligent. Jaden is like my son, man, he's a special individual, super smart. I saw that he was ultra-talented but just needed to be challenged. He needed an opportunity and I saw him just keep getting better that spring. Nobody had talked about Jaden. They had talked about other kids. All Jaden wanted was a fair shake because we were loaded with talent that year. We made some tough decisions, which were the right decisions, and he went into the starting lineup, and the rest is history. He earned it all. As we continued to go, he just wanted to learn more and more about everything. He's just a great kid. He's a special one to me, and always will be.

FRITCHEN: Based upon any tape you might've already watched, what are your initial impressions of Malik Knowles, Phillip Brooks and Kade Warner at the wide receiver position?

WARD: These guys have a world of ability, Malik Knowles especially, and we've already started that relationship piece, which is awesome. Right now, we're building that trust and being honest with the players coming in, and talking about life first, and then we get into more, and talk a little bit of football. I'm excited to start talking about football with my guys, and just technique, and how we can make it better. It's about, 'Come sit on my couch and let me get to know you.' Once you have student-athletes talk about stuff other than football, that's when I know I've got them. Everything else takes care of itself. Those guys are talented. Once I continue to push the envelope with these guys, I know we're going to take these guys to another level.

FRITCHEN: How excited are you for spring ball to get this going?

WARD: I'm really excited about the challenge of taking these young men to a different stage. That's the definition of a coach, to me. It's about whether you can take these players to a place they can't go themselves. This is a unique challenge. As I watch tape on these guys — Kade Warner, Phillip Brooks, Malik Knowles, and guys like R.J. Garcia and Keenan Garber — those guys are going to have to grow up really fast. The great thing I've seen is that they're eager to learn, which is awesome. I know we're going to take them to a place they can't go, and obviously, hopefully sooner than later. We're going to try and get that done right away, starting now. Early morning workouts, they're working hard, they're good kids, and that's awesome. That's a huge part of it. Now it's just giving them those traits and holding them accountable every day. They've shown me, 'Coach, I want to learn.' They're coming up here, which is awesome. I know the fact that is happening right now, we're going to be able to take them to the next level.

FRITCHEN: What are your thoughts on UCF joining the Big 12?

WARD: I was told we were going to be join the Big 12 when I went there, which was 1999, so I'm happy for them to join the Big 12. It's a great school. I played against them for three years at Temple, and it'll be a great challenge for us as we go against them again. I'm happy for the institution. I have a lot of fond memories there. I cherish those moments, the times we had, and the players I played with there. I'll never forget it at all.

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Phillip Brooks

Keenan Garber

Malik Knowles

Kade Warner

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