“I have a question,” Dillingham said in response. “Why do you think our wide receiver blocking is really, really good?”
Dillingham smiled, waiting for the young reporter to answer his own question. “Yeah,” Dillingham said. “Hines Ward, baby.”
Ward, a semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2025 class, is in his first season as a position coach with the Sun Devils. Over a 14-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he was the most physical receiver in football, known for bone-jarring, tone-setting blocks.
“When you have a guy who lived it and did it and smiled when he did it, and blocked you to the cooler and then smiled again?” Dillingham said. “And then caught 10,000 yards and (85) touchdowns and he tells you, ‘If you want the ball, you better block?’ You’re going to block.”
After a recent practice, Ward said he’s proud of how his receivers have embraced his coaching.
Randy Fichtner isn’t surprised. He was Pittsburgh’s receivers coach for three seasons near the end of Ward’s career. Upon joining Mike Tomlin’s staff in 2007, it didn’t take long for Fichtner to realize that Ward already had control of the receiving corps.
Throughout a recent phone conversation, Fichtner chose his words carefully because pro football was different 20 years ago, more physical, and he didn’t want to give the wrong impression. But he made it clear Ward’s physicality and toughness were essential to the Steelers’ success.
Fichtner said that at different times he saw Ward break a defender’s nose, jaw and eye socket, some of those plays not even drawing a penalty. Although the results may have been unfortunate, the physicality set a tone, which is why Fichtner put together a 15-play “knockout reel” of Ward’s best hits, a video he showed the Pittsburgh offense after Ward retired in 2011. Fichtner said it consisted of all the things no one wanted to do — namely, block.
“The league has changed,’’ Fichtner said. “You can’t get away with some of that, but don’t tell me you can’t be man-on-man tough. There’s game-breaking blocks that happen every day out there. You don’t get long runs in the NFL if you don’t have wide receivers who are willing to give effort and block.”
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6016256/2024/12/24/hines-ward-arizona-state-coaching-career/
Dillingham smiled, waiting for the young reporter to answer his own question. “Yeah,” Dillingham said. “Hines Ward, baby.”
Ward, a semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2025 class, is in his first season as a position coach with the Sun Devils. Over a 14-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he was the most physical receiver in football, known for bone-jarring, tone-setting blocks.
“When you have a guy who lived it and did it and smiled when he did it, and blocked you to the cooler and then smiled again?” Dillingham said. “And then caught 10,000 yards and (85) touchdowns and he tells you, ‘If you want the ball, you better block?’ You’re going to block.”
After a recent practice, Ward said he’s proud of how his receivers have embraced his coaching.
Randy Fichtner isn’t surprised. He was Pittsburgh’s receivers coach for three seasons near the end of Ward’s career. Upon joining Mike Tomlin’s staff in 2007, it didn’t take long for Fichtner to realize that Ward already had control of the receiving corps.
Throughout a recent phone conversation, Fichtner chose his words carefully because pro football was different 20 years ago, more physical, and he didn’t want to give the wrong impression. But he made it clear Ward’s physicality and toughness were essential to the Steelers’ success.
Fichtner said that at different times he saw Ward break a defender’s nose, jaw and eye socket, some of those plays not even drawing a penalty. Although the results may have been unfortunate, the physicality set a tone, which is why Fichtner put together a 15-play “knockout reel” of Ward’s best hits, a video he showed the Pittsburgh offense after Ward retired in 2011. Fichtner said it consisted of all the things no one wanted to do — namely, block.
“The league has changed,’’ Fichtner said. “You can’t get away with some of that, but don’t tell me you can’t be man-on-man tough. There’s game-breaking blocks that happen every day out there. You don’t get long runs in the NFL if you don’t have wide receivers who are willing to give effort and block.”
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6016256/2024/12/24/hines-ward-arizona-state-coaching-career/
