Originally on MiamiHurricanes.com by Christy Cabrera Chirinos
That sense of determination, that drive, it’s seemingly always been there.
Calvin Ward still remembers the conversation he had with his youngest son, Cameron, when the then-second grader wanted to add football to his ever-growing list of activities.
At the time, the Wards were a basketball family, fully immersed in AAU hoops, with mom, Patrice, even coaching the sport herself. So, Calvin did his best to try and encourage his son to focus on the hardwood, and not the gridiron.
It didn’t take long for him to realize his son wasn’t about to give up on his football dreams.
“I was like, ‘Well, why don’t you wait a year?’ and I was just trying to push it off, thinking maybe he’ll forget about football and just stay focused on basketball,” Calvin Ward recalled. “But then he came to me the next year, when he was in third grade, with this form and said, ‘I need you to fill this out.’ When I asked what it was, he said ‘It’s for me to play youth football … remember you told me I had to wait until next year? Well, it’s next year.’”
Calvin Ward filled out the form and took his young son to his first football practice.
Not long after, those first practices were followed by extra workouts and training sessions as
Cam Ward discovered he had not just a knack for the game, but a love for it, too.
It wasn’t uncommon for him to drag his father out of bed on Saturday mornings, after playing the night before, to go get some throwing sessions in. And Sundays were all about faith, family and football, with father and son often working together – again – after church.
Today, Cam Ward is a record-breaking quarterback who has emerged as a Heisman Trophy candidate while leading the Miami Hurricanes through a memorable, magical season that he and his teammates hope isn’t anywhere close to being finished any time soon.
And for much of his football journey, determination and grit have been the story.
As a high schooler at Columbia High School in West Columbia, Texas, Ward played in a Wing-T offense that, sure, helped the Roughnecks win games, but sure didn’t showcase Ward’s skills as a quarterback who could sling the ball in a way many of his peers couldn’t.
“A lot of small-town Texas teams, they live and die by it,” Ward shrugged. “But we were 9-2 my senior year, so if you’re a head coach, you’re thinking ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’”
Colleges didn’t pay attention. Recruiting services didn’t think much of Ward either, saddling him with the dreaded “zero star” ranking and putting him in a largely ignored category for prospects who have little to no chance of making an impact at the college level, let alone the NFL.
Ward, though, was determined to make someone, some coach, some program, take note, even as the proverbial chip on his shoulder grew larger and larger.
“It was hard, especially me being 16, 17 and seeing some of my peers who I would play against in 7-on-7 [tournaments], go to camps with and compete against knowing I was better than them,” Ward said. “And it was visual, you could see how I was throwing the ball versus them. But at the end of the day, that just wasn’t what God had planned for me.”
Through the disappointment, Ward continued pushing forward. He continued playing both football and basketball at Columbia High School, even becoming the school’s all-time basketball scoring leader.
But he was determined to make a future for himself in football, so the training sessions and the workouts and the extra practices continued.
Finally, in January 2020 – just months before he was set to graduate – an opportunity surfaced.
Incarnate Word, an FCS program located in San Antonio, scheduled an in-home visit with Ward and his family and invited the quarterback to come to campus himself.
Ward did exactly that and that same week, committed to the program.
He was still miffed it had taken so long for even the coaches at Incarnate Word to give him a chance, especially given that he’d been at one of their camps months earlier.
But with a scholarship offer now in hand, Ward set out to prove the doubters wrong.
Still, there was a problem. After years of playing in the run-heavy Wing-T, Ward had to learn how to be a college quarterback.
That proved a challenge he hadn’t quite expected.
“When I got there, it was just a different world for me in regard to football and learning the game,” Ward said. “I didn’t know anything, really, about football. I didn’t know how to go through progressions or the right pocket movements, those attributes you have to have as a quarterback. It was a learning curve for me, but the coaching staff that I had there really helped me. The quarterback who was above me at the time helped me. I went in as a third stringer, but I actually got more reps than the ones and twos, so I think that kind of helped me, eventually, get to the starter position. I just tried to play the hand that I was dealt.”
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He played that hand masterfully.
Ward spent as much time as possible studying film, learning from coaches and teammates and as a freshman, became Incarnate Word’s starter during a season that was pushed from the fall to the spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He played in six games of that modified season, completed 60 percent of his passes and threw for 2,260 yards and 24 touchdowns, setting a new school record for scoring passes in a single season in the process.
Ward was later named the Southland Conference Spring Freshman of the Year and recognized as the 2021 recipient of the Jerry Rice Award, which is presented annually to the top FCS freshman.
While some of the throws he made raised eyebrows, his quick rise to starter, and eventual award winner, came as no surprise to those who knew him best.
“He’s a student of the game,” said his mother, Patrice Ward. “If they had football degrees, believe me, Cameron would be at the top of his class. He’s always studying. He wants to be good. But he knows that to be good, you have to know what you’re doing. So, he studies. He’s off the charts. He’s always been determined.”
Ward’s success continued that fall when, as a sophomore, he completed 65 percent of his passes and threw for 4,648 yards and 47 touchdowns. He led the Cardinals to the Southland Conference Championship and was named the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year.
Outside of Texas, people were starting to notice the quarterback who, for so long, had been unnoticed.
Then came another opportunity.
Eric Morris – the head coach who’d given Ward his chance at Incarnate Word and who, during his time at Texas Tech mentored Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes – left San Antonio to join the staff at Washington State as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
And he wanted Ward with him in Pullman.
Ward, for his part, felt ready to play on a bigger stage, even if that stage came was far from home.
“I was ready to play big-time football. It was something I wanted to do out of high school. I couldn’t do it right away, but I finally got my shot,” Ward said. “I just felt like I was leaving UIW at the right time. I’d won games there. I was the Jerry Rice Award winner. I was just ready for that next step. I really don’t think I had anything left to prove at the FCS level. …
“But Washington State, I remember when I first went there, me and my parents, it was December, I believe, and we were on this little airplane flying over mountains and hills. You don’t see any roads, everything was just covered in snow, and I was like, ‘Where am I?’ … It was a culture change, for sure. But I knew what I was getting myself into. … I knew I was going to get a chance to play football and that’s all I ever wanted. [Head] coach [Jake] ****er and Coach Morris gave me an opportunity and I ran with it.”
That may be an understatement.
In his two years at Washington State, Ward started 25 games, completed 66 percent of his passes and totaled 6,963 passing yards and 48 touchdowns. He rushed for another 13 scores and established himself as one of the most electrifying players in college football with the ability to extend plays and elude defenders.
And Patrice and Calvin Ward were there for every step of their youngest son’s journey, making the 2,220-mile trek from West Columbia to Pullman every time the Cougars played a game.
For them, there was no other option. They weren’t about to miss watching Ward live his dream.
“I know the growth that he’s made. I’ve seen the sacrifice that he’s made. I saw the times when he was in high school, feeling like he wasn’t getting the chance he wanted,” Patrice Ward said. “There’s the disappointment a mother can feel about that, but seeing him not giving up, you know, that makes me feel so proud.”
As much as his game grew, though, Ward said being at Washington State taught him something else: how to lead a locker room.
It’s a trait he’s carried with him and one he believes has helped make him the quarterback he is today.
“I think those two years shaped me into learning more about my teammates and being more of a team player than just wanting to go out there and throw for a lot of touchdowns,” Ward said. “I went through a lot of adversity out there, record-wise, and personal-wise. But I would say the best thing about being there is that it really allowed me to focus on football. It really made me love the game even more. It made me cherish every opportunity when I was there, because I was 3,000 miles away from Texas. The flights my parents had to go through to get there, they were going on 10-hour days every time they’d see me come play. So, I knew if they could do that for me, I can do the little things that’s just doing my job and playing football.”
After two seasons of learning and growing at Washington State, Ward had another decision to make.
Had he done enough there to put himself in position to make his lifelong dream of playing in the NFL a reality, or was there still more for him to achieve in the world of college football?
There were heart-to-heart conversations with his parents, particularly with his father, the man who’d been one of his first coaches and who taught him to love the game.
And there were heart-to-heart conversations with himself.
Physically, Ward felt ready to take the next step. The skill set to succeed in the NFL, he believed, was there. The toughness, he believed, was there. The ability, he believed, was there.
So, he decided to enter the NFL Draft.
But hearts and minds change, and Ward’s did.
The quarterback realized he hadn’t accomplished all he wanted to do in college and an intriguing opportunity presented itself in Miami under head coach
Mario Cristobal and offensive coordinator
Shannon Dawson.
“I think that was the biggest thing that me and my dad talked about during that time. The NFL isn’t going anywhere any time soon. You only get a certain [number] of opportunities to play in college,” Ward said. “I bet some guys who went out early probably would’ve wished they stayed another year … So, I just based my decision on what I really wanted to do and that was help this team and help myself become a better person and then ultimately win, win a lot of football games at the Power [Four] level, which I haven’t done in my past.”
Ward arrived in Coral Gables in January and just as he did at Incarnate Word and Washington State, immediately got to work.
One of the first goals on his agenda? Getting to know his new coaches and teammates, particularly the receivers he’d be throwing to on a daily basis and the offensive linemen who’d be protecting him.
His efforts weren’t limited to workouts and meetings in the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility – though there were plenty of both.
Ward also invited his new teammates to his house to watch the Super Bowl. He treated Miami’s offensive linemen to dinner on multiple occasions. He went fishing with several Hurricanes.
And once spring practice began, he made a quick impression and showed, yet again, why underestimating him was a mistake.
“The first day, I wanted to test him out. He was throwing the ball on the field, and I was by the exit, and I told him to throw me the ball. I was like 60 yards away and he threw it on the dot,” defensive lineman
Rueben Bain Jr. laughed during the spring. “That’s the thing that stuck out to me. … There have been a couple of times where I’ve tried to make an inside move and he’s made me regret it. He’s real swift on his feet.”
Added Cristobal, “He earned trust, and he earned trust by the fact that he’s up there in the office every waking free moment that he has. He gets there early, and he leaves late. He pulls aside the receivers and the tight ends, and he watches film with them, and he takes the linemen out to eat. He spends time with the running backs, and then he waits after practice and does some more stuff with other guys that maybe were off a little bit. …
“Trust and confidence [are] earned. It’s not just given away. What he has done, he has earned. He’s earned the trust of the people around him because of his time invested and the fact that he’s an alpha and your quarterback needs to be an alpha.”
Seven months later, Ward remains every bit the leader and playmaker he showed himself to be during spring drills on Greentree.
He’s emerged as a national leader in both passing yards and touchdowns, throwing for 3,494 yards and 32 touchdowns in Miami’s first 10 games.
He has rewritten the school’s single-season record book, becoming the first Hurricane to ever put together seven consecutive 300-yard performances.
With Ward under center, Miami opened the 2024 season with nine straight wins, including an epic, 25-point comeback victory against California in Berkeley in October.
On that memorable night, Ward scored on a 24-yard scramble, completed 35 of 53 passes and threw for 437 yards and two touchdowns.
One of those touchdowns was a 5-yard scoring pass to
Elijah Arroyo with 26 seconds left that helped Miami clinch an improbable 39-38 win.
“Week in and week out, when [No.] 1 has the ball in his hands, you know the game’s never over,” wide receiver
Xavier Restrepo said that night.
And from the stands at California Memorial Stadium, all Patrice and Calvin Ward could do was smile knowingly.
The rest of America may have been surprised to see their son’s cool demeanor when faced with a near-impossible, second-half deficit, but for the two of them it was typical Cameron.
Their son has never given up on himself, never given up on a play, and never given up on a game.
He wasn’t about to start then.
“Ever since he’s been playing especially football and basketball, we’ve always taught him the mindset that you play until the clock goes to zero,” Calvin Ward said. “And when the clock goes to zero, if you want to feel sorry for yourself, you feel sorry for yourself. But the game isn’t over until the clock says zero. So, he’s always had that as his mindset. And at the quarterback position, I always taught him that regardless of what the score is, unless someone is looking at the scoreboard, they should never be able to know what the score is by looking at you. In other words, don’t get too high, don’t get too low, just keep battling until the clock goes to zero. And he’s done that, ever since he was a little kid.”
Said Patrice Ward, “We’re proud of him because he’s confident in himself. … If you’re not confident in yourself and you don’t believe in yourself, who’s going to believe in you? We’re proud of him because we’ve instilled that in him. … Some kids could just hang it up and say, ‘Hey, things didn’t go my way.’ But Cameron, he’s a fighter. He’s going to fight until the end like Calvin said, until the clock is at zero.”
Zero. It marks the end of a game, like the one Ward helped the Hurricanes win in California. Or the comeback game he helped Miami win this season against Virginia Tech. And again, against Duke.
It’s also a number that will always hold significance.
Zero stars. A reminder that before he earned that one invaluable scholarship offer, before he won national awards, and before he found himself at the center of the Heisman Trophy conversation during his final year of college football, not many coaches paid him much attention.
Despite the success that’s come in recent years, Ward has never forgotten that disappointment.
It continues to drive him to this day – and may drive him for years to come.
“It’s really on my mind a lot. I really don’t think I’ll ever be able to leave it just because it’s permanent,” Ward said. “It makes me have a lot of hate in my heart, makes me hate a lot of things. I don’t know if that’s good for me, but I just try to pray about it. I’m not free yet. Maybe later in life I will be.”
As to how he’d like to see the next few weeks play out, Ward says he’s not finished making headlines.
There are still things he wants for himself and goals he’s set.
But more importantly, there are things he wants for the Miami Hurricanes.
“Hopefully, [there’s] a couple trophies. A couple individual trophies … a lot of team trophies and most importantly, helping every guy on this team have those memories. Cherish them forever. Even Coach Cristobal tells us a lot of people on this team won’t be on a team like this [again]. The talent like this, the camaraderie that we have, you don’t get this chance every season. So, we’re all just trying to take advantage of the moment and hopefully, it ends with us holding up that trophy at the end of the year.”
