Teaching finer points of coverage

By John Bassetti

This is the 32-year-old’s first year in coaching after a productive career at Miami (Fla.)

NILES — Nick Ward has the job of coaching some of the fastest Mahoning Valley Thunder players.

But he’s the guy for the job because he’s fast himself.

His qualifications?

Ward attended the University of Miami (Fla.) where he played cornerback for Butch Davis. In 1998, he led the Big East Conference with over 10 yards per punt return.

After playing for the Hurricanes from 1995-99, Ward spent eight seasons in the Arena Football League as both a defensive back and wide receiver for the Florida Bobcats, Carolina Cobras, Georgia Force, Kansas City Brigade, Philadelphia Soul and New Orleans Voodoo.

Ward finished his pro indoor career with 87 receptions, eight interceptions and 15 combined touchdowns.

Now 32, Ward embarks on his first coaching position — as instructor of defensive backs.

During the Thunder’s two-week training camp which concludes today, Ward addressed the differences between the outdoor game and af2.

“With the field being as small as it is, the angles change and speed of the game itself changes,” Ward said of the field 50 yards long and 26 yards wide.

“Outdoors, it’s 5- and 7-step drops and the shotgun formation. Here, it’s mostly 3 to 5 steps. The quarterback-to-receiver relationship is a lot quicker to get the ball to a point.”

Much of Ward’s job during camp entails conveying the differences to his position players.

“A lot of times, we work on the angles, speed and being able to cover someone in a smaller area.”

Outdoors, Ward said, the quarterback has a little more time to deliver, even if the distance of a receiver’s route of 20 yards outdoors, literally, translates into almost half the field’s length indoors.

Because the indoor action is fast, plays are condensed.

“Receivers have the ability to throw a lot of moves and still be able to get into their routes right away as long as they don’t disrupt the chemistry of the timing,” Ward said.

There’s a bit of a contradiction, however, when the elapsed time of a play, in some cases, is drawn out to allow for the play to materialize.

Consider that one route may result in a touchdown covering end zone-to-end zone.

To counter a receiver’s deceptive moves, defensive backs are taught patience and urged not to react too soon.

“Receivers are going to throw a lot of moves and a defensive back has to keep backing up or take the proper angles because he can get beat here a lot easier,” Ward said,

Despite it all, coverage isn’t as difficult as perceived.

“For a defensive back,” Ward said, “it’s not as hard as people may think. Like billiards, the 33.3 math with the dots on a pool table to decide the angles is the same here because everybody is an athlete who takes advantage of the density.”

Ward made clear what isn’t commonplace on an af2 field.

“One thing you don’t have is those unique Donovan McNabb plays or Michael Vick plays where the quarterback runs from sideline to sideline and throws the ball 100 yards downfield. You don’t have a lot of that. You do have those types of plays, but you won’t see a whole lot of running QBs in this league.”

At Miami, Ward played seasons with Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Santana Moss and others.

His final AFL season started with the eventual Arena Bowl champion Soul before being traded at the end of the season to New Orleans.

bassetti@vindy.com