One of the veteran members of the coaching staff, John Ward enters his seventh season with the Bulldogs. He is in his third season working with the defensive line, while also serving as the team’s academic coordinator.
The Bulldog defensive line played a big role in The Citadel leading the Southern Conference in rush defense. The unit combined for 35.0 tackles-for-loss and added 15 quarterback hurries.
Joseph Randolph II was the leader of the front as the first-team all-conference selection posted a team-best 14.5 tackles-for-loss and 5.0 sacks.
Dalton Owens controlled the middle of the line as he recorded 8.5 tackles-for-loss and 3.5 sacks in his first action as a Bulldog.
In the classroom, the Bulldogs fought through the pandemic to post a 3.141 team grade-point average during the spring 2020 semester.
The Bulldogs’ defensive front featured a pair of standouts in 2018 in Ken Allen and all-conference selection Randolph.
Randolph earned all-conference honors while ranking fourth in the league with 14.0 tackles-for-loss. Allen did not have the stats, but was a big key in stopping the run from his nose tackle position.
They were part of a defensive front that held five opponents under 100 rushing yards, including limiting Charleston Southern to negative-1 yard rushing in the season finale.
In his first season on the defensive side, Ward helped the Bulldogs finish second in the league in rushing defense. The line was anchored by the emergence of all-conference selection Jalon Williams.
Ward spent his first three seasons at The Citadel working with the offensive tackles.
During the 2016 championship season, the offensive line helped lead the way for the nation’s top rushing attack, rushing for over 400 yards in five games.
The line was anchored by All-American tackle Isaiah Pinson and all-conference tackle Nick Jeffreys.
Success also came in the classroom as the Bulldogs had multiple Google Cloud Academic All-Americans for the first time in school history. Joe Crochet was a first-team selection for the second-straight year, while Jeffreys was named to the second team. Additionally, Myles Pierce and Will Vanvick earned Academic All-District accolades.
The Bulldogs used the same starting lineup the entire 2015 season in helping the program set school records for all-purpose yards, total offense and rushing yards. The Citadel led the conference with 346.9 rushing yards per game 5.70 yards per rush and 41 rushing touchdowns.
Ward came to The Citadel from Lenoir-Rhyne where he served as a graduate assistant working with the tackles. The offensive line helped pave the way for the Bears to lead the nation in rushing while setting the NCAA single-season rushing record for all divisions with 5,563 yards in advancing to the Division II National Championship Game in 2013.
Two of Lenoir-Rhyne’s offensive tackles were named to the All-South Atlantic Conference first team while Joe Ray won the league’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy and was a Division II All-American.
In addition to his coaching responsibilities, Ward also was the strength and conditioning coordinator for the football team.
Ward headed to Lenoir-Rhyne after two seasons as a graduate assistant at Springfield College, working with the tackles and tight ends. He also served as the head coach of the junior varsity team in 2012. The Pride led the country in rushing in 2011 and finished second in 2012.
Ward was a three-year starter at Springfield College where he helped the Pride qualify for the 2006 NCAA playoffs.
He graduated from Springfield in 2010 with a degree in criminal justice.
