By: Colin Lacy

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

“With the First Pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Tennessee Titans select Cameron Ward, Quarterback, Miami…”

That’s not only the phrase that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell uttered making Cam Ward the first overall selection in the Draft on Thursday night, but it’s also a phrase that many people would have laughed at even a year ago. Cam Ward’s path is one that isn’t replicable but it’s one that is special and untraveled.

Ward’s story really takes off at Columbia High School, a (in relation to Texas High Schools) smaller school less than 60 miles southwest of Houston. The Columbia High tradition isn’t of star quarterbacks going to the NFL, their tradition is…. the wing-T offense.

In an offense that is well known for quarterbacks that are more magicians than gunslingers, Ward’s offense ran the ball four times as much as throwing.

Cam’s family knew the talent that ward possessed in the arm, and his mom, Patrice (who was a basketball coach at Columbia) went to the coaches to talk about it. Cam finally told his mom to not say anything else and he would “show everyone in time.”

The first glimpse of stardom came at a 2019 football camp at Incarnate Word. UIW’s head coach at the time was Eric Morris who was the one who recruited Patrick Mahomes to Texas Tech when he was the offensive coordinator for the Red Raiders.

Morris saw Ward standing out pass after pass and asked his QB Coach, Mack Leftwich and asked, “Who is this kid?” and the response was “I have no clue.”  As the day went on and Ward continued to impress Morris and Leftwich tracked down his name and directly after the camp to look at the tapes and were surprised to see the Wing-T offense.

Through a relatively light recruiting process, Ward would land at Incarnate Word and hit the ground running as a freshman. In year one as a collegiate quarterback, Ward would upset the FCS #19 McNeese State on the road in his first college start and average 47 pass attempts per game including 65 pass attempts in one game.

Two seasons at Incarnate Word would see 71 touchdowns and just shy of 7,000 passing yards, then questions would come.

Ward has said that he would have been content to play his entire career as an FCS quarterback, but after his sophomore season, Eric Morris would get the chance to become the Washington State offensive coordinator.

Because of the trust between Morris and Ward, Cam would follow to the Pacific Northwest. Although Morris would only spend one season with the Cougs before returning to the Lone Star State to North Texas, Ward stayed for two seasons at Washington State then declared for the NFL Draft.

Ward thought that a mid-round selection would determine his path, but his cousin, Quandre Diggs (NFL Pro-Bowl Safety) convinced him to return to college. Ward says that Diggs told him “If you’re not a first-round pick, you’re looked at as a project. Sometimes it works, sometimes you get buried in the organization.”  With that in mind, Ward welcomed offers to transfer and finally landed in Coral Cables, Florida with Mario Cristobal and the Miami Hurricanes.

It turned out to be a great decision as Ward paced the FBS with 39 touchdowns and finished second in the nation with 4,313 passing yards. That sets Ward up for the night he’s always dreamed of.

In the shadows of Labeau Field, Cam Ward became a Tennessee Titan and looks to get the franchise that has struggled mightily the last few years back on track, and through all the naysayers, against all odds, Cam Ward is the number one pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.