Former USC DC Lorenzo Ward a welcomed addition to Petrino’s staff at Louisville

Former South Carolina defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward has found a new home on Bobby Petrino’s coaching staff at Louisville.

Ward was hired by Petrino as associate head coach and secondary coach in the offseason. He spent one season as the defensive coordinator at Fresno State following his seven-year stint at South Carolina.

The Cardinals are allowing an average of 338.5 passing yards per game entering Saturday’s showdown with Clemson.

Petrino said this summer he is glad to have Ward on his staff.

“Whammy is a guy that has a great personality, a tremendous teacher,” Petrino said. “That’s one thing that’s already shown up is how well he teaches technique and fundamentals. And then he’s got them flying around playing hard. I think we’ll have a good secondary, and he’s a really good coach.”

Ward previously worked for Petrino at Arkansas in 2008. Petrino continued to follow his coaching career.

Even though things didn’t end well for Ward at USC, Petrino was impressed by the job he did for the Gamecocks.

“He did a great job at South Carolina,” Petrino said. “When they were lighting it up, when they were playing really well on defense, Lorenzo had a lot to do with that.”

Cardinals cornerback Jaire Alexander, considered one of the best cornerbacks in the nation, said over the summer that Ward is improving his game.

“Coach Ward is a great coach. I really like him a lot. He brings a bunch of different tools and techniques that we can use to perfect our craft at DB,” Alexander said. “He’s real fundamental, real technical. Coming in he said he didn’t want to switch my game up, so he just gives me more tools to use.”

This story was originally published September 12, 2017 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Former USC DC Lorenzo Ward a welcomed addition to Petrino’s staff at Louisville."