Flatonia’s Mascheck was Head Coach of NFL’s No. 1 Pick Cam Ward

Flatonia’s Brent Mascheck was the high school coach of the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft last week, Cam Ward.

Before Mascheck came to Flatonia to be the Bulldogs head coach two years ago, he was the head coach at West Columbia, where Ward was his star quarterback for three years.

“I talked to Cam the morning of the draft and he said he had butterflies but was excited,” Mascheck said. “My wife and I watched the draft and it was a lot of fun. I’m so proud of him and so happy for him and his parents.”

Saturday Mascheck was invited to attend a surprise draft party in Ward’s honor back in his hometown.

But just a few years ago, neither Ward or Mascheck could have imagined this kid from West Columbia would be at the top of the pro football world.

“As a freshman he was raw but you could see the arm talent,” Mascheck said. “He could throw from so many angles. He could manipulate the pocket. He always kept his eyes downfield.”

By his sophomore year Mascheck made Ward the starting quarterback for the 4A Roughnecks. He threw for more than 1,000 yards as a junior and a senior, made all the more amazing because West Columbia was a Wing-T team.

“Our team was not built to throw the ball, but we added a lot of passing stuff because of Cam,” said Mascheck, who went 4-4, 6-4 and 9-2 during Ward’s three years at QB. “But we had four really good running backs.”

However, they lacked a lot of quality receivers.

Mascheck said he remembers a game where 12 of Ward’s on-target passes were dropped.

Still, Ward was getting collegiate attention.

“After his junior season we had 12 or 13 days of college coaches coming down to watch him do drills. These were SEC head coaches and offensive coordinators, a bunch of offensive coordinators from the Big 12 – and every single of them found something against him.

“But Cam didn’t pout. He held his head high. He went to Incarnate Word and became the player he was because of those naysayers – he kept receipts.”

Ward didn’t get a single big-time college scholarship offer, but flourished at San Antonio’s University of The Incarnate Word, where he threw for 2,260 yards as a freshman and 4,648 yards as a sophomore.

When his head coach at Incarnate Word, Eric Morris, went to Washington State to be their offensive coordinator, Ward followed him, and threw for more than 3,000 yards in each of the next two seasons there.

With one more year of eligibility (because of Covid), Ward transferred to Miami, where he passed for 4,313 yards last year for the Hurricanes.

When Ward was trying to decide where to transfer for his senior season, Mascheck said his phone was blowing up from college coaches wondering if they had a shot to sign him.

“I told them, ‘You had your shot four years ago,’” Mascheck said. “At Miami this year he played against some of those coaches who didn’t sign him out of high school, and he got a little revenge.”

As the draft approached this year, Mascheck said he was getting calls from NFL scouts, just doing their homework on Ward.

“I told them all, you are going to get a leader of men,” Mascheck said.

The Tennessee Titans drafted Ward first overall Thursday.

Although Ward’s college jersey number, No. 1, was retired by the Titans in honor of Warren Moon, Moon granted permission for Ward to wear it during Ward’s introductory press conference.

Since the draft, Mascheck’s wife has bought her husband some Titans gear.

Friday Mascheck was getting a lot of phone calls from reporters, and on campus at Flatonia, lots of folks wanted to talk to Mascheck about Ward.

“Actually our football players ask about him a lot,” Mascheck said. “I use his story often. You will encounter naysayers in your life. Cam used that to push himself. Sometimes the best motivation is proving people wrong.”