Two-time Super Bowl Champion Hines Ward is apologizing for one of those wins after becoming the new wide receivers coach at Arizona State.
The former Steelers wide receiver recently took the job, saying, “I love coaching, I love helping young men.”
Ward also said he (and his wife) were excited to have an opportunity to coach in Phoenix, the city that’s home to the team the Steelers beat in Super Bowl XLIII, the Cardinals.
“I apologize for us beating the Cardinals years ago so, don’t take that against me,” said Ward.
Ward was a member of the Super Bowl XLIII team that beat the Cardinals and was the MVP three years early after Super Bowl XL.
Sun Devils Head Coach Kenny Dillingham said after hiring Ward:
"Anytime you hire somebody who's been successful, you say, OK, do they want this?" Dillingham said Saturday night after the team's practice. "Do they want the grind? Why do you want to work 100-hour weeks when you don't have to? You watch him play the game, all he did was prove people wrong with his effort and physicality. That was his identity as a person. Then when he's in your office and he says, 'I want to prove (to) people that I can be the best at this,' you can feel it. Any room he steps into, any family that feels that passion that I felt in that room, they're going to want to play for him."
Ward’s coaching career started in Pittsburgh in 2017. He also coached in New York with the Jets as an offensive assistant in 2019 and 2020. He coached at the college level with Florida Atlantic in 2021.
Ward was most recently the head coach of the San Antonio Brahmas in the XFL.
The XFL and USFL have combined and are now the United Football League or UFL.