Bob Ward ( American football ) Robert " Bob " Richard Ward ( September 16 , 1927 – April 29 , 2005 ) was an American football coach and player . He played college football for the Terrapins at the University of Maryland . He is considered , alongside Randy White , as one of the greatest linemen to have ever played for Maryland . Ward is the only player to have been named an Associated Press first - team All - American for both an offensive and defensive position . In 1950 , Ward was named a first - team All - American , and the following year , he received consensus first - team honors . He served as the Maryland head football coach from 1967 to 1968 , but without success . He coached football for a total of 22 years , including assistant coaching positions at Oklahoma , Iowa State , and Army , and in the Canadian Football League . Ward was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1980 . Early life . Bob Ward was born in Elizabeth , New Jersey on September 16 , 1927 . He attended Jefferson High School . During the Second World War , Ward enlisted in the United States Army . He completed Airborne School to become a paratrooper and was stationed at Fort Benning , Georgia . He later served as a first lieutenant in the United States Air Force . College career . In 1948 , Ward enrolled at the University of Maryland and played varsity football all four years as both an offensive guard and defensive lineman . At 5 feet , 9 inches ( 1 . 75 meters ) and 187 pounds ( 84 . 8 kg ) , Ward was undersized for a lineman by the standards of the day ( and would be significantly undersized compared with current linemen ) , but was known for " consistently dominat [ ing ] " much larger players . His relatively small stature earned him the nickname of the " watch - charm guard . " Ward was known for his aggressiveness and tenacity , traits he used to compensate for being out - sized by opposing linemen . Maryland quarterback and 1952 Heisman Trophy runner - up , Jack Scarbath , later said about Ward : " I remember a game against Michigan State when Bobby [ Ward ] was at middle guard and went right over top of the center to make a tackle . Then he went right under the center to make another tackle . A little later , he went around the center to the left . Then he went around him to the right . I ' ve never seen anybody who could dominate a game like Bobby . " During Ward ' s four years at Maryland , the Terrapins achieved a 32 – 7 – 1 record , won two bowl games , and secured a national championship . In the 1950 Gator Bowl , Ward was named the game ' s Most Valuable Player . In the 1952 Sugar Bowl , what the Washington Post called the second " game of the century " , Ward was part of the third - ranked Maryland team that defeated coach Robert Neyland ' s first - ranked Tennessee team , 28 – 13 . That performance capped a perfect 10 – 0 season for the Terrapins . During that final game of his career , Ward tackled Tennessee offensive back Hank Lauricella and forced a fumble , upon which Maryland capitalized with a touchdown . Ward graduated from the University of Maryland in 1951 with a bachelor ' s degree in business . In the 1952 College All - Star Game , Ward captained the college team against the reigning National Football League ( NFL ) champions , the Los Angeles Rams , but the professionals won , 10 – 7 . Ward declined a professional playing career himself , and turned down contract offers from the Baltimore Colts and a 24th - round NFL Draft selection by the Dallas Texans . Awards and praise . Ward was named an Associated Press ( AP ) first - team All - American as a defensive middle guard in 1950 and as an offensive guard in 1951 . He is the only player to have ever achieved the honor for both an offensive and defensive position . In 1950 , legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice named Ward a " Look " magazine All - American , and every team that Maryland had played selected Ward to " The Chicago Tribune " ' s All - Players All - America team . He was also named to the 1950 All - Southern Conference team . In 1951 , Ward was a consensus All - American as selected by the Associated Press , United Press International , " The Sporting News " , and the International News Service . He was also named the 1951 Southern Conference Player of the Year , the Washington D . C . Touchdown Club Lineman of the Year , and the Philadelphia Sportswriters Association Lineman of the Year . He was again selected to the All - Southern Conference team in 1951 . Ward was voted as Maryland ' s Most Valuable Player all four years of his playing career and twice received the Anthony C . Nardo Memorial Trophy for the team ' s most outstanding lineman . His jersey number , 28 , was the first to be retired by the University of Maryland . Maryland head coach Jim Tatum , who had previously coached eight first - team All - Americans at Oklahoma and coached six aside from Ward at Maryland , said that Ward was " the greatest football player I ' ve seen ounce - for - ounce , and the best I ' ve ever coached . " Quarterback Jack Scarbath considered Ward one of Maryland ' s best all - time linemen alongside Randy White . Teammate and first - round NFL Draft pick Ed Modzelewski said , " I still believe he 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 monitored the players ' academic performance , enforced class attendance , and placed curfews on perceived troublemakers . Ward stated that , in his first year , only two of his players failed out of the school that he claimed had a history of poor athlete academics . He complained that he was a scapegoat and that there had been poor communication between him and Kehoe . Penn State head coach Joe Paterno was concerned with the situation surrounding Ward ' s resignation and sent a letter to the American Football Coaches Association demanding an investigation . Paterno said : " I don ' t know who ' s right or wrong , but . . . I don ' t think it ' s a good thing for a squad to fire a coach . As an association , we ought to know what happened . If a university fired an English professor because his class didn ' t like the way he was doing things , I know darn well that the American Association of University Professors would want to know what happened . " Maryland head coach Ralph Friedgen played as an offensive guard under Ward , and was one of the players who remained on the team when 40 of his teammates walked off in protest . Long after the events , Friedgen said " he was a tough coach . . . If he had addressed some of the players ' concerns , I don ' t know that so many would have left . . . One of the things I learned from him was to surround myself with good assistants , and I don ' t know if he necessarily did that . " Kehoe , who had been one of Ward ' s track coaches in college , said , " I think Bob ' s problem was that he expected his players to play and hustle the same way he had , and times had changed . " After Maryland , Ward took a job as an assistant coach with the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League in 1969 , and later coached for the Montreal Alouettes , from 1970 to 1971 , and the Toronto Argonauts from 1975 to 1976 . He remained in Canada for the remainder of his coaching career . Later life . After his Canadian coaching stint , Ward and his wife , Miss Ellen , opened a liquor store , Manhattan Liquors , located on the City Dock in Annapolis , Maryland , which they operated from 1970 to 1988 . They had three sons , James ; Robert , Jr . ; and Kelly ; and one daughter , Kathleen . Kelly Ward attended Iowa State University where he was a three - time All - American wrestler and the national champion in his weight class in 1979 . Bob Ward died in one of his sons ' homes in Laytonsville , Maryland on April 29 , 2005 at the age of 77 , due to complications related to Alzheimer ' s disease . His remains were interred at the Arlington National Cemetery .