AD hopes to keep making progress
After holding phone conversations with about a dozen candidates for the Incarnate Word head coaching position Sunday, athletic director Richard Duran visited with 16 of the Cardinals’ leaders and key returners Monday.
Duran said he wanted open conversations, outlining the program’s plan and allowing the players to vent their feelings in the wake of coach Eric Morris’ decision to leave after four seasons for the offensive coordinator position at Washington State.
“I am going to do my best to find the next ball coach that could lead us and not just compete for a WAC championship, but try to make a run at the national championship next year,” Duran said. “They’re going to wait and see and give me the time and trust to find a great ball coach and make decisions off of that.”
But the landscape of college football can change quickly. Teams around the country are working to build their rosters through a busy transfer market, with the early signing period set to open Wednesday.
Wanting to “explore all available opportunities,” UIW quarterback Cameron Ward posted to Twitter on Thursday that he is entering his name in the transfer portal.
Behind Ward, UIW wrapped up its best year in program history Saturday with a 49-42 loss to No. 1 Sam Houston in the second round of the FCS playoffs, coming within 1 yard of a touchdown and the opportunity at a two-point conversation attempt to knock off the defending national champion.
The 2021 season still marked the winningest year in Cardinals history at 10-3, as well as the program’s first FCS playoff win, first outright Southland Conference championship and first win against an FBS opponent.
Ward, the FCS freshman of the year in 2020 and the driving force behind UIW’S high-flying offense, is projected to have no shortage of available suitors. He starts the process with a nearly blank slate, saying Morris was the only coach to offer him after he played in a Wing-t offense at Columbia High School that often disguised his tal
ents.
Ward wrote that he is “facing much uncertainty” following Morris’ departure, and Duran said Ward was one of the players he visited with this week, noting that the college experience is about more than a head coach.
“I think Cam will be the first-ever draft pick out of the University of the Incarnate Word. I truly believe that,” Duran said. “But whatever he does, I will still love him. I will always have his back, and I will celebrate him every step of the way.”
Even without Ward, Duran sees a roster loaded with enough pieces to keep the momentum rolling, provided he can find the right coach. All he asked was that the Cardinals allow the process to play out before committing to a transfer.
Duran’s initial idea after Morris’ decision finalized was finding “the next offensive guru” to build on the team’s success in the air raid. The 2021 roster, which listed 32 senior or graduate students compared to 61 underclassmen, is built for a spread attack, only adding a few tight ends for the first time this season.
But Duran found some of the Cardinals wanted other qualities in a new coach, perhaps hoping for a program CEO or someone more focused on defense. Duran said he shifted to a more “open” thought process, with the intention of keeping some familiar schemes.
“Every conversation I’ve had with these candidates, I said, ‘This is not a rebuild. This is a little bit of a retool, and make sure we keep come of the core principles on the offensive side,’ ” Duran said. “Things aren’t broken here at UIW. Things are at the best point they’ve ever been in our football history.”
Morris finished his UIW tenure with a 24-18 record, inheriting a 1-10 team and earning two conference championships through the next four years.
Duran, who came to UIW as a deputy AD in 2017 before taking over on an interim basis in 2019 and elevating to the permanent role in 2020, remembers days when outsiders referred to the program as “Incarnate World” or “IWU.”
As the profile has risen, and with a move to the Western Athletic Conference on the horizon, Duran said he “opened some doors that I didn’t think existed,” speaking to more than 20 candidates across Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. He decided not to hire a search firm, instead working through the pool with a committee of just three other members of UIW’S administrative staff.
“Four years ago, we couldn’t even get some coaches to call us back,” Duran said. “Now, the interest in this opportunity, it’s just amazing to see what a difference it’s been.”
Morris alerted Duran to the possibility of a jump to Washington State about a week and a half before the move became final, giving UIW a chance to counteroffer.
After swallowing the emotions of the loss to Sam Houston in the postgame locker room, the Cardinals started the four-hour bus ride back to San Antonio, learning about 30 minutes out that UIW was holding a second team meeting upon arrival.
Morris addressed the players regarding his departure, and then Duran spoke to the team to outline the next steps, installing inside receivers coach Clint Killough as the interim coach.
Duran reminded the Cardinals they had “unfinished business” for next year, and he said he would work quickly in the process of finding a new coach.
Duran plans to schedule interviews over Zoom “in the very near future,” he said, then move into campus visits.
Duran has also been meeting with some of UIW’S high school commits about the program’s future, but he does not plan on stretching to have a new leader in place before the early signing period.
“I’m not going to rush this thing because of Dec. 15,” Duran said. “I’m going to make sure that when the time is right and we’ve found the right person for the job, whether that’s before or after Dec. 15, we’ll make the hire then.”