Brian Ward
Brian Patrick Ward (born May 22, 1973) is an American football coach and former player. He is the defensive coordinator at University of Nevada, Reno, a position he has held since 2020. Ward served as the head football coach at McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas from 2007 to 2009 and as the interim head football coach at Bowling Green State University for one game in 2015. As an assistant coach at Wabash College in 2002, he was named the AFCA Assistant Coach of the Year for NCAA Division III.
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Defensive coordinator |
| Team | Nevada |
| Conference | MW |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | May 22, 1973 Glendale, Arizona |
| Playing career | |
| 1994–1996 | McPherson |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1997 | McPherson (DC/ST) |
| 1999–2000 | Glendale CC (DC/DB) |
| 2001–2004 | Wabash (AHC/DB/ST) |
| 2005 | Missouri Southern (AHC/Co-DC/ST) |
| 2006 | Tulsa Union HS (OK) (AHC/DC) |
| 2007–2009 | McPherson |
| 2010 | North Dakota State (DB) |
| 2011 | Drake (DC/LB) |
| 2012–2014 | Western Illinois (DC/LB) |
| 2015 | Bowling Green (DC/LB/interim HC) |
| 2016–2019 | Syracuse (DC) |
| 2020–present | Nevada (DC) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 17–15 |
| Bowls | 0–1 |
| Tournaments | 0–1 (NAIA playofs) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| AFCA Division III Assistant Coach of the Year (2002) | |
Coaching career
Ward was the head football coach at McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas for three seasons, from 2007 to 2009, compiling a record of was 17–14.[1]
Ward was named the 2009 College Fanz National Coach of the Year after taking his team to the NAIA Football National Championship playoffs for the first time in the history of the program.[2]
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | NAIA# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McPherson Bulldogs (Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference) (2007–2009) | |||||||||
| 2007 | McPherson | 4–6 | 3–6 | T–7th | |||||
| 2008 | McPherson | 4–6 | 3–6 | 7th | |||||
| 2009 | McPherson | 9–2 | 8–1 | 2nd | L NAIA First Round | 12 | |||
| McPherson: | 17–14 | 14–13 | |||||||
| Bowling Green Falcons (Mid-American Conference) (2015) | |||||||||
| 2015 | Bowling Green | 0–1[n 1] | 0–0[n 1] | [n 1] | L GoDaddy | ||||
| Bowling Green: | 0–1 | 0–0 | |||||||
| Total: | 17–15 | ||||||||
Notes
- Dino Babers was Bowling Green's head coach for the team's first 13 games before stepping fown to become to head football coach at Syracuse University. Ward served as interim head coach for the GoDaddy Bowl. Bowling Green finished the season with an overall record of 10–4.
References
- "McPherson College Football Media Guide 2010" (PDF). McPherson College Athletics. Retrieved November 10, 2010.
- Sell, Steve (February 23, 2010). "Ward resigns as McPherson College football coach". McPherson Sentinel. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved November 11, 2010.