Kansas State University Athletics
Football
- Title:
- Wide Receivers
A 20-year coaching veteran with stops in the Midwest and on the East Coast, Thad Ward is in his first season as Kansas State’s wide receivers coach after being hired in February 2022.
Ward came to Manhattan after spending the previous three seasons at Temple where he tutored the Owl wide receivers and served as the pass game coordinator. He coached Jadan Blue to a pair of All-AAC honors, including the 2019 season when Blue set the school’s all-time record for receptions (95) and yards (1,067), becoming the first player in school history to top the 1,000-yard receiving mark. Opposite Blue, Branden Mack caught 59 passes for 904 yards and seven touchdowns, each of which ranked among the best in school history.
This past season, Ward’s wideouts were the top three receivers for the Owls as the position group combined for 152 catches for 1,568 yards and 10 scores.
Ward went to Temple following three seasons as the running backs coach at the Illinois. In 2018 under the direction of Ward, running back Reggie Corbin rushed for 1,085 yards and nine touchdowns as his 8.5 yards per carry were the best in the FBS. In 2017, Ward coached freshman Mike Epstein, who was the fifth true freshman in program history to lead the team in rushing yards and also tied for the team lead with four total touchdowns.
In his first season with the Fighting Illini in 2016, Ward helped junior running back Kendrick Foster have a breakout year, finishing third in the Big Ten in yards per carry (5.7) and seventh in all-purpose yards per game (110.7). Corbin also had a big season, ranking 14th in the nation in yards per carry among freshmen (6.1), the best mark by an Illini freshman since at least 2000.
Ward went to Illinois following three seasons coaching the wide receivers at Northern Illinois from 2013 to 2015, helping the Huskies to a 31-11 record and three bowl appearances. His success was highlighted by two-time All-MAC honoree Da’Ron Brown, who was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2015 NFL Draft. Brown caught 68 passes for 1,065 yards and six touchdowns to lead the Huskies to the 2014 MAC Championship. He also helped develop Kenny Golladay, drafted by the Detroit Lions in the third round in 2017, and Tommylee Lewis, a 2013 All-American who went on to become an undrafted free agent signed by the New Orleans Saints in 2016.
Ward spent the 2012 season at Western Michigan as he developed wide receiver Jaime Wilson into the MAC Freshman of the Year thanks to 67 receptions for 792 yards and six touchdowns.
Prior to WMU, Ward spent one season at Gardner-Webb as the wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator in 2011, which followed six seasons as the running backs coach at Western Illinois from 2005 to 2010. During his time in Macomb, Ward coached three players to All-America status in Travis Glasford (2005), Herb Donaldson (2007 and 2008) and Dre Gibbs (2008). In his final season at WIU, Ward helped the Leathernecks finish with an 8-5 record, which included a victory in the First Round of the FCS Playoffs.
Ward began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Florida A&M before spending two years coaching at Tallahassee Rickards High School in 2003 and 2004, the final year serving as the interim head coach.
Ward played three seasons at UCF from 1999 to 2001. As a senior, he was the team’s second-leading receiver for 44 catches for 446 yards and a touchdown. In 1999, Ward returned a pair of blocked punts for touchdowns, one at Georgia and the other at Middle Tennessee. He went to UCF after spending two seasons at Coffeyville Community College, including the 1998 campaign when current K-State running backs coach Brian Anderson was on staff.
Ward obtained his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice at UCF in 2001. He and his wife, Jocelyn, have two daughters, Jayda and Journie, and one son, Thaddaeus, Jr.
The Ward File
| PERSONAL INFORMATION |
|---|
| Year in Coaching: 21st |
| Year at K-State: First |
| Hometown: Tallahassee, Fla. |
| Spouse: Jocelyn |
| Children: Jayda, Journie, Thaddaeus Jr. |
| EDUCATION |
|---|
| UCF (2001) Bachelor's Degree Criminal Justice |
| PLAYING EXPERIENCE |
|---|
| Coffeyville CC, Wide Receiver (1997-98) UCF, Wide Receiver (1999-2001) |
| PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE |
|---|
| 2002 Florida A&M (Graduate Assistant) |
| 2003-04 Rickards HS (WR/DB/Interim HC) |
| 2005-10 Western Illinois (Running Backs) |
| 2011 Gardner-Webb (WR/Pass Game Coordinator) |
| 2012 Western Michigan (Wide Receivers) |
| 2013-15 Northern Illinois (Wide Receivers) |
| 2016-18 Illinois (Running Backs) |
| 2019-21 Temple (Passing Game Coordinator/WR) |
| 2022 K-State (Wide Receivers) |
