was the greatest player, pound for pound, that I have seen in either pro or college ball." Ward was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980, and into the University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984. Coaching career After he declined offers to pursue a professional playing career, Ward coached the game for 22 years. Most of that time was spent as an assistant coach, and he served in that capacity at Maryland from 1952 to 1957, Oklahoma from 1957 to 1958, Iowa State from 1958 to 1965, and Army in 1966. At the United States Military Academy, Ward enjoyed the strictly regimented environment, and the players appreciated his aggressiveness. In 1967, Ward returned to his alma mater to take the head coaching position. Before the season, 12 players failed to academically qualify to play on the team. During that first season, the team lost all nine of their games for the first time in the modern era. Ward's second year saw slight improvement, recording eight losses but with wins over North Carolina and South Carolina. However, many of his players were growing increasingly disgruntled with his coaching style. In March 1969, Maryland athletic director Jim Kehoe called a meeting among 120 players, Ward, his assistants, and a three-man committee. Thirty-one players told Ward that they no longer wished to play on the team and accused him of using intimidation tactics that included verbal and physical abuse. Ward listened to the player's grievances, but did not respond at the time. Two days later, he resigned as head coach. Later that year, Sports Illustrated interviewed Ward, and he said:"I won't go into all the specifics, but it wasn't the good players who started it. It was the guys who couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag, guys who sat on the bench and couldn't take it and a couple of pip-squeak cub newspaper guys who don't know what football's all about ... He gets on the campus newspaper and all of a sudden he's got power he never thought of having." The Diamondback, the university's student newspaper, had criticized Ward for moving the team into one dormitory, which forced some other students out. Ward stated that the move was done on the advice of Kehoe—which Kehoe denied—and with the intent of focusing the players on their studies and building camaraderie. Ward and his assistants