Ward named defensive coordinator following departure of Ellis Johnson
When Lorenzo Ward was announced as the new defensive coordinator for South Carolina, he may not have been the most excited person in the room.
“They all chest bumped me and hit me and all that kind of stuff in the room,” Ward told reporters following the announcement in Orlando. “It was good to get it over with and I’m excited to have the opportunity.”
Ward was named the interim defensive coordinator following the departure of Ellis Johnson, who was named the head coach at Southern Miss. Ward was a defensive coordinator just once before, for two years at Tennessee-Chattanooga. He then started coaching at Virginia Tech, where he spent seven seasons coaching the secondary under Frank Beamer.
In 2006, Ward joined Art Shell’s staff with the Oakland Raiders, but was not brought back in 2007, which is a year he calls the best of his life because he spent it with his son.
Ward came to USC in 2008 after spending one year as the secondary coach on Bobby Petrino’s staff in Arkansas. He has spent the past season coaching the linebackers and has gained approval of the team over his tenure at South Carolina.
“We responded really good,” said senior defensive end Melvin Ingram on the reaction of the team to Ward being named the defensive coordinator. “Coach Ward is like one of us. He looks at us like either his little brothers or his sons, so it was a warm feeling that [even though] coach Johnson is gone ... with [Ward] stepping in, I feel like we won’t lose a piece, so it was just a warm feeling for us.”
It was originally expected that the Capital One Bowl would be an audition for Ward and though it turned into his coaching debut, Ward shined as South Carolina’s defense held the Cornhuskers to just 253 yards.
The game didn’t start well, as the defense was gashed by Nebraska’s ground game in the first half, allowing 100 yards on 26 carries. In the second half, the Gamecocks allowed just 37 yards on 20 carries.
A big key for the Huskers was the performance of running back Rex Burkhead, who had 71 yards in the first half. In the second half, he was held to just 18 yards.
“I think we did a better job executing what we had in,” Ward said. “I think we were really excited to get this game started. I think anytime you take 30 or so days off to go play a bowl game, the thing that you lack in that bowl game early is tackling. We talked about it at halftime — it didn’t have anything to do with the game plan. We had to be more physical and just go out there and execute.”
Ward also said the speed of South Carolina’s defense was important later in the game.
“You have to be fast to play in this league that we play in,” Ward said. “We knew we had speed. We figured if we just let them play fast, it would eventually take over.”
The game marked the first for Ward in the booth, since the Gamecocks are still down a linebackers’ coach on defense.
“It started out slow,” Ward said of calling the game from the booth. “Even the (first) touchdown pass was my fault — I got the call in late. I said that we’ve got to do what these young men have been doing and no matter the personnel or the group on the field, we have to make a call and let them play, and that’s what we started doing.”
Ward said that he’d like to return to the field after a linebackers’ coach is hired.
“It’s difficult because I like looking players in the eyes,” Ward said. “I felt like being a coach short, I could see it better up there. My plan for next season is to probably be on the sideline. I like to look at my players and I can tell whether they’re focused or not. We’ll figure it out when we hire a linebackers’ coach. Hopefully, he’s a guy that we can put in the box so I can be on the field.”
And even though he had managed to stay in the booth for most of the game, Ward still found himself on the field as the seconds wound down on the 30-13 win, savoring the excitement with his players.