{"id":270991,"date":"2025-10-02T04:35:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/270991\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T04:35:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:35:14","slug":"charlie-ward-seeks-to-build-an-hbcu-powerhouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/270991\/","title":{"rendered":"Charlie Ward seeks to build an HBCU powerhouse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part 2 of 2 (Read Part 1 here: Ex-Knick Charlie Ward continues new(ish) coaching trend at HBCUs<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about recruiting, getting outstanding football players,\u201d noted soon-to-be 85-year-old former Florida A&M University (FAMU) head football coach Billy Joe, who talks like he\u2019s 50 but laughs like he\u2019s 30. \u201cYou do that and quite frankly, you\u2019re going to be a winner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe didn\u2019t get to play in Super Bowl III versus the Baltimore Colts because he was injured. Still, he used his bauble to impress recruits. \u201cI always wore my Super Bowl ring and let the players try it on,\u201d stated Joe, the AFL Rookie-of-the-Year (1963) with the Denver Broncos. \u201cTheir fathers and mothers also tried it on.\u201d<\/p>\n

One new wrinkle of college coaching is the new world order of the NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness). College athletes can now earn money from their likenesses on a t-shirt and the like. That\u2019s something Charlie Ward, the ex-Knick, Heisman Trophy, winner and newly installed basketball coach at FAMU, is going to have to deal with.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough the NIL space, some people are just taking the best deal, right?\u201d he declared. \u201cThey\u2019re burning bridges to go get what they call the \u2018biggest bag.\u2019 Which is not a good mindset long term because it\u2019s the microwave revolution.\u201d Everyone wants it now, but building a team takes patience.<\/p>\n

Ward\u2019s Rattler offense will be \u201cfree flowing based around our personnel,\u201d while his defense has always been a focus and is always going to be something that you can hang your hat on if you\u2019re going to win consistently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s squad was 14-17. Ward started thinking about coaching when he retired from the NBA after 11 years, following the 2004-05 season playing for Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy. He was the starting point guard when the Knicks made their last trip to the NBA Finals \u2013\u2013 under Van Gundy \u2013\u2013 in 1999. Ward became an assistant coach under Van Gundy (\u201cHe opened the door for me.\u201d), and he has never forgotten that. Van Gundy went from being his coach to \u201cmy boss\u201d to a mentor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re connected at the hip because of long-term relationships that were built,\u201d exclaimed Ward, as he and wife Tonja are the parents of Caleb (25), Hope (22), and Joshua (16). Ward turned down the NFL when he learned he wouldn\u2019t be drafted in the first round. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2006, but basketball is his calling.<\/p>\n

Could an NBA gig be in the future? \u201cThat\u2019s not a long-term goal for me,\u201d he admitted. \u201cI am enjoying where I am. I coached high school basketball for seven years at one place. I like to try to stay in one place because just like the guys who are searching for the \u2018biggest bag,\u2019 it can become who you are, and you don\u2019t get the most out of where you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, he spent 17 years coaching high school and captured a Class 3A state title at Tallahassee\u2019s Florida High School in 2022. Ward knows exactly where he is now, though in 2018, he had a mini stroke, which put everything in perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do believe mine was caused by stress and me eating different things that I probably shouldn\u2019t have,\u201d he revealed. Ward is in good health now and takes care of his body with a little extra help. \u201cEverything you go through is part of God\u2019s plan for your life,\u201d said Ward.<\/p>\n

As he starts his first year as the head coach, Ward marvels at where he is right now. \u201cWe were out on the recruiting trail, and we\u2019re in the same room as some of the Power 4 schools,\u201d recalled Ward. \u201cI was just thinking, in the movies, how the Power 4 coaches that you recognize are in the movie recruiting players. I joked to my coaches that we\u2019re in the same room as the Alabamas. I tell them that we\u2019re in the movie.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s all you can ask for.\u201d<\/p>\n

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