Back in January, Willie Taggart made a few key hires at his coordinator spots that made splashes.
Michael Johnson, who was receivers coach at Mississippi State in 2019 and has prior experience at Oregon and UCLA as well as in the NFL with the 49ers, Ravens, Falcons, and Chargers was brought on board as the team's new offensive coordinator while Mike Stoops left his role as an analyst at Alabama under Nick Saban to beecome the team's defensive coordinator.
Then, a month later in February, Michigan offensive line coach Ed Warinner was announced as the team's new run game coordinator / offensive line coach.
Now, a report shares that Taggart is building on those strong hires by bringing a well respected NFL veteran, who happens to be early on in his coaching career, on board in an off-field role.
Former Steelers receiver Hines Ward is joining the Owls program, according to The Owl's Nest.
Ward spent the past two seasons as an offensive assistant with the New York Jets.
His connection to FAU lies with director of player personnel David Kelly, who was the running backs coach at Georgia while Hines was in college.
The Owl's Nest shares that Ward will be working alongside receivers coach, and former NFL veteran, Joey Thomas. The two will work together to develop one of the most inexperienced receiver corps in major college football.
Ward was a 3rd round pick out of UGA in the 1998 NFL Draft and was able to spend his entire playing career with the Pittsburgh Steelers organization. While wearing the black and yellow, Ward helped lead the team to two Super Bowls (including one Super Bowl MVP), and was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and has been named to the Steelers All-Time team for racking up 1,000 catches for over 12,000 yards and 85 touchdowns during his career.
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