Former Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward to take over as Florida A&M’s basketball coach
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Former Florida State dual-sport star and 1993 Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward is set to become the new men’s basketball coach at Florida A&M University.
Ward’s hiring was supposed to become official during a board of trustees meeting Wednesday afternoon, but a nationwide Zoom outage forced the meeting to be postponed to a later date.
Nonetheless, the sides have a five-year, $975,000 contract in place that is pending board approval. Under the proposed deal, Ward would earn $175,000 during the 2025-26 season and get a $10,000 raise annually. The contract runs through June 2030.
Ward, 54, graduated from Florida State in 1994 and went on to have an 11-year NBA career, which included nine-plus seasons with the New York Knicks as well as stints with San Antonio and Houston. He retired in 2005 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame the following year.
Ward served as an assistant coach for the Rockets (2005-07) for two seasons before embarking on a high school coaching career that started in Houston and eventually brought him back to Florida. Most recently, he served as boys’ basketball coach at Florida State University Schools in Tallahassee.
Ward replaces Patrick Crarey, who left after one season to take over at Southwestern Athletic Conference rival Grambling State. FAMU went 14-17 under Crarey this past season. The program’s last winning season came in 2006-07, when the Rattlers made their third NCAA Tournament.
Ward joins a growing list of former professional stars who have taken college jobs in recent years, several of them amid the booming name, image and likeness era in which raising money is key to building a winner.
Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders started the trend at Jackson State in 2020 before getting hired at Colorado. Former NFL receiver DeSean Jackson is the head coach at Delaware State. Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick is at Norfolk State. And former NFL running back and 1995 Heisman winner Eddie George was recently hired at Bowling Green after four years at Tennessee State.
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