Cameron Ward reflects on what he experienced at Manning Passing Academy

Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward has come a long way from being an under-recruited quarterback from West Columbia, Texas, dominating at the FCS level for two seasons at Incarnate Word and impressing in his first season for the Cougars last year.

So much so that he landed an invite to the prestigious Manning Passing Academy this summer along with many of college football’s best quarterbacks from around the country, and at Pac-12 Media Days, Ward reflected on his experience with the Mannings.

“It was a great experience,” Ward said. “Thank you to Peyton, Eli and the whole Manning family. I was able to talk with Cooper. He’s the funniest one out of the group. Archie, he’s my guy, loves my family, all that.”

Ward spent the last weekend in June at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana helping coach up some quarterbacks at the youth level, but also learned from and got better amongst college football’s top tier of quarterback talent, sharing some of his biggest takeaways from his memorable weekend.

“The biggest thing I took out of that camp was the connection I’ll have with them lifelong. We were able to talk football,” Ward said. “Eli told me one of the most important things is you always need to be prepared for chaos, no matter game time, life.”

It’s not every day that as a quarterback that you can learn lessons from a two-time Super Bowl champion and Super Bowl MVP at the position, but it wasn’t the only highlight of the weekend from Ward. He also enjoyed the camaraderie of the nations’ top quarterbacks at his level and exchanged lessons learned.

“That experience was a great experience. I’m grateful for the opportunity, the brotherhood that they have. I was also able to meet some good guys. I was able to meet Quinn Ewers, Texas quarterback, Mike Penix from Washington. A great group of quarterbacks, 30 or 40 of us. We had a great experience,” Ward said.

Ward ranked No. 5 in the Pac-12 in passing yards last season for Washington State, throwing 3,231 yards for the Cougars along with 23 touchdown passes on a 64.4% completion percentage in hist first season on the FBS stage.

His play unfortunately did not impact the win-loss column for Washington State, as they finished last season with a 7-6 record and a bowl loss for the second straight season.

But Ward did take a major leap at Incarnate Word in his second season, helping lead the Cardinals to a 10-3 record, and hopefully he can do the same for the Cougars this upcoming season in his second year with the program.