Florida Atlantic promotes former Steelers All-Pro Hines Ward

Florida Atlantic head coach Willie Taggart isn’t waiting until the end of the season to make changes. On Monday, Taggart announced a promotion for special assistant Hines Ward to wide receivers coach.

Ward, a former Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro and former Georgia Bulldogs receiver, worked alongside former FAU WR coach Joey Thomas this season. Last year, the two-time Super Bowl champ was an offensive assistant with the New York Jets. Thomas departs the program after one year as an assistant and one year as an analyst.

Taggart addressed the move on Monday after FAU fell to Old Dominion 30-16 this weekend. The loss moved the Owls to 5-5 on the year.

“Always evaluating the program and where we can get better,” Taggart said while discussing the coaching staff change. “Again, we gotta get better and it’s my job to make sure that we continue to evaluate and continue to move forward. It’s something I thought would be best for us moving forward to help us.

“I think Hines will do great,” Taggart continued. “I think he’ll be really good. Not only for our players but also in the staff room. And his experience, his knowledge of the game, now that he can coach and be more involved, I think it will help us tremendously, in every aspect. … I don’t know if he can still run around like he used to but hopefully he can get our guys to assimilate how he played and more importantly, get them to do things the right way and the way we want to play.”

The Owls take on a big challenge in Ward’s first week on the job. They’re traveling to Western Kentucky to attempt an upset over the first-place Hilltoppers. Kickoff is at 12 P.M. ET on Saturday.

Ward as a Steeler, Bulldog

Raised in Forest Park, Georgia, Hines Ward elected to attend the University of Georgia. He etched his name in Bulldog football history during his time with the team from 1994-97. His 149 career receptions for 1,965 yards ranked second at the time. Ward also played tailback and had 3,870 all-purpose yards.

After leaving Georgia, Ward went at pick No. 92 in the 1998 NFL Draft to the Pittsburgh Steelers where he’d play his entire career. He is the team’s all-time leader in receptions, receiving yardage and touchdown receptions. He also won the MVP award for Super Bowl XL in 2006.