‘I took a different route’: New Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward bursts into spotlight after being overlooked

PULLMAN – Not long ago, Cameron Ward had slipped under the radar.

Now he’s in the spotlight.

The outside expectations are lofty for Washington State’s new quarterback.

But in 2019, no one seemed to be expecting much from Ward, who was overlooked by college programs while he prepped at a run-heavy program in southeast Texas.

“We reached out to a lot of colleges, Division II schools,” Ward said recently . “They wouldn’t respond to the emails my dad would send out.”

Ward earned an honorable mention all-state accolade as a senior QB at Columbia High, a Class 4A school located in West Columbia – just south of Houston.

Still, he finished his prep career as an unranked prospect after throwing only a dozen passes per game in Columbia’s Wing-T offense.

Just about every college recruiter passed on Ward – except one.

Eric Morris, who served as head coach at FCS Incarnate Word over the past four years, was intrigued with Ward’s potential and impressed by his performance at a summer camp hosted at UIW in 2019.

Morris didn’t offer Ward then, but he kept tabs on the big QB throughout the year before extending an offer in the winter.

“That was my only offer, so it was either that, or go (to junior college),” Ward said. “I knew going there I’d put myself in a good situation to throw the ball.”

And throw it he did.

Ward quickly proved skeptics wrong, capturing starting duties as a true freshman at UIW, a private Catholic university in San Antonio.

He played through a shoulder injury, firing an average of 50 passes per game in Morris’ Air Raid offense and topping the FCS with 24 touchdowns. Ward took home the Jerry Rice award – given to the classification’s best rookie – for his efforts during the Cardinals’ truncated spring season in 2021.

In the fall, Ward outdid himself and exhibited Power Five-caliber qualities.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder collected All-America honors after producing impressive numbers for one of the nation’s most prolific offensive clubs.

Ward led the FCS with 48 touchdowns (against 10 picks) and finished third with 4,648 yards, averaging 358 yards per game on a 65% completion rate. He showed off his blend of arm strength – Ward said he can launch a football 80 yards through the air – accuracy, mobility and improvisational awareness in guiding UIW to a 10-win season, the best in school history.

Suddenly, college football experts were taking notice.

“If you want to be the best player on the field, you’ve gotta prove it,” Ward said. “It doesn’t matter what level you play at.”

WSU just so happened to be in the midst of a rebuild, and the Cougars hired Morris in December to install his Air Raid system and coordinate the offense under first-year coach Jake Dickert. Ward, who has three years of eligibility remaining, put his name into the NCAA’s transfer portal not long after Morris’ departure.

Ward earned a four-star grade from 247Sports, which tabbed him a top-10 transfer player of this recruiting cycle. Early Heisman odds were released recently by betting outlets, and Ward was listed among the top 20 preseason contenders for college football’s most prestigious individual prize.

Ward said the Cougars began recruiting him in mid-to-late December. Ole Miss made a strong push, too. Rebels coach Lane Kiffin predicts Ward will be a first-round pick in the NFL draft, according to the Athletic.

“I’ve always expected myself to be good,” Ward said. “I pushed myself every day and I’ll always have confidence in me – it’s something I grew up with.

“To me, it’s not really the rankings I care about, or look too much at. It’s cool to have the ranking … but rankings aren’t going to show you how good you are. That goes in one ear and out the other to me. I just truly love throwing the football.”

In the end, WSU’s offer was too good to pass up.

Ward jumped at the chance to reunite with his old coach and operate a familiar offense.

“That was something I looked at real hard, just with what he’s done for me and my family,” Ward said of Morris.

Considering his modest upbringing, Ward also appreciated the “small-town vibe” of Pullman, where seemingly “everyone knows each other.”

Sweetening the deal was an open spot at quarterback atop WSU’s depth chart, plus an NIL (name, image, likeness) opportunity.

Jayden de Laura, the Cougars’ two-year starter under center, put his name into the portal Jan. 7, three days before Ward signed with WSU.

Local businesses had been putting together an enticing NIL package, financial incentives meant to help lure Ward to the Palouse.

He’ll be doing promotional work for several organizations, including Valley Buick GMC in Auburn, Coug Housing and CougsFirst! – a networking company that spearheaded Ward’s NIL agreement.

“I know it was part of it,” Dickert said last week when asked how crucial the NIL deal was in Ward’s recruitment. “But I’d like to think the connection, the fit in the offense, what he feels like he can do in his relationship he’s built with coach Morris and how he felt about the direction of me being the head coach in our program trumped all that.”

Ward acknowledged – but didn’t emphasize – the significance of NIL and de Laura’s departure in choosing WSU.

“What really got me here: I came on the visit, liked the facilities, liked the town and coach Morris,” Ward said. “Football is the reason I’m here.

“I felt like coming here is going to prepare me for what I want to do in my life. Playing Power Five, that’s something I wanted to do coming out of high school, but couldn’t. I took a different route and hopefully it’ll pay off.”

Sharp and personable, Ward is already assuming a leadership role with the Cougars. He’s spent the past few weeks forming bonds and developing on-field chemistry with new teammates, and assisting in the Air Raid’s installation during player-led throwing sessions and meetings.

“Just the base offense right now, nothing too complicated,” Ward said. “Just helping teach the offense to the QBs, wideouts and running backs.

“To be a quarterback, you’ve got to be a leader on and off the field and do things the right way. It’s also about making connections with the guys. You gotta build that trust. You can’t just come in and try to win everyone over on the first day. It’s a process.”

Sean Brophy, recently hired by WSU as an offensive assistant, played QB at UIW before Ward’s time. The two have been collaborating during offensive meetings twice a week, with Brophy taking point and Ward chiming in when needed.

“They’re picking it up fast, doing better than I did when I first learned this offense – because it’s hard to learn,” Ward said.

He defined Morris’ modified Air Raid as a “true QB-led offense,” an up-tempo system featuring an assortment of possible personnel groupings that requires its signal-caller to make checks on the fly and “give signals to the wideouts fast.”

“Once you get into practice, it’s going to seem fast at first, but when you get used to it, it slows down,” he said. “The first couple of days at fall camp, when I first got to UIW, (Morris) was calling play actions and I was handing the ball off. Everybody’s looking at me like crazy.”

After two years at the wheel of Morris’ offense, Ward said he has most of it down. But WSU will tweak the system, starting up front. Newly hired offensive line coach Clay McGuire “is going to make some changes, protection-wise,” Ward said.

“So I’ve gotta learn that, and we’re always installing new plays,” he said. “It’s a new game plan each week. Every week we learn something new. It’s awesome.”

Ward enrolled at WSU last month and is anticipating spring camp, which will begin in late March or early April. College football pundits expect Ward to shine right away and lift WSU into immediate contention for the conference’s North Division crown.

“We want a Pac-12 championship. We want a chance to go to the Rose Bowl – something that hasn’t been done here in a long time,” Ward said. “If we’re able to accomplish that this year, that’d be a great feeling not only for us but for the whole community.”

Getting to know the new QB

The football part of his transition was the least drastic change for Ward in the past month.

WSU may be located in a “small town,” but it’s no small school. UIW, in contrast, has an enrollment of only about 5,000 undergraduates.

“It shocked me,” Ward said. “I went into my first class (at WSU) and there were like 300 people in there.”

Ward graduated from high school in the early days of COVID-19 and his first two years of college were impacted greatly by the pandemic. He took just one in-person course at UIW: a dance class with 12 other students.

He’s still familiarizing himself with the natural elements of the Palouse.

“Snow is the biggest thing you’re going to find out about when you move to Pullman,” he said.

Ward was raised about 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico in a consistently warm region of the country.

He describes himself as a “big fisherman,” who’d often get up at 5 a.m. and head to the sea, hoping to catch a speckled trout or flounder. He’s looking forward to joining a group of his Cougar teammates for fishing expeditions on the Snake River. Asked of any other hidden talents, Ward said he’s a steady bowler.

Ward was a three-sport athlete in the “true small town” of West Columbia, which has a population of less than 4,000. He split time growing up in nearby Angleton and Lake Jackson – both Pullman-sized cities.

“In West Columbia, there’s not really anything. You just play sports,” Ward said. “If you wanna go bowling or watch a movie, you gotta go to Angleton or Lake Jackson.”

He threw discus for the Roughnecks’ track and field team and received some recruiting interest for his endeavors on the basketball court. Ward was a two-time all-district MVP for Columbia High’s hoops team, and at one point considered a future in the sport.

He credits mentor Steve Van Meter, a tutor of prep QBs in Texas, for setting him straight.

“To this day, I remember he said, ‘There’s a lot of 6-3 people who can score 30 points per game, but there’s not a lot of 6-3 people that can throw the ball like you,’ ” recalled Ward, who would make the 45-minute trip north to Friendswood with his father every Sunday for Van Meter’s training sessions.

His parents, Calvin and Patrice, live and work in southeast Texas, but they told Ward “they’re going to be at every game, and that made the decision easier for me.” Calvin is employed by a nuclear plant in Bay City and Patrice teaches at Columbia High.

Ward’s family background includes NFL ties. He’s cousins with Seattle Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs and former longtime San Diego Chargers corner Quentin Jammer.

Ward and Diggs often interact on Twitter. Diggs recently requested some WSU gear.

“We have a close relationship,” Ward said. “I can’t see him as much now, because of his job and everything. Our moms live in the same neighborhood, literally a block away.

“He’s someone I can reach out to at any point. I ask him for advice about anything.”