The Alexander City Outlook

For the third time in ten years, the Lyman Ward football program will be under a new head coach.

Head football coach Sheldon Ward, who took over for the Rangers in 2008, has accepted the offensive coordinator and associate head coach position at Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, Ga.

“My time at Lyman Ward was great,” Ward said. “I’ve been away from my family and young children so much for these past three years that it is time for me to make them a priority.”

Although Lyman Ward didn’t have quite the success that they would have hoped for under Wards coaching, he knows that the program will be in good hands and is appreciative of his time at the school.

“I owe a lot to Lyman Ward,” Ward said. “They gave me the opportunity to be a head coach which is something that I have strived for and for that I am grateful.”

The move comes in what Ward describes as a step up in his professional career with the aspirations to one day be a head coach once again.

“I’ve been given an opportunity to coach at a school that has had a pretty good track record in the state of Georgia,” Ward said. “I look forward to some new opportunities.”

Riverside Military, much like Lyman Ward, is a military boarding school that has made the state playoffs in the AA classification after moving to the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) from the Georgia Independent Schools Association (GISA).

“Being around my family and coaching at a great school like Riverside will be a great thing,” Ward said. “I met so many great people and learned a lot of things from my time at LWMA and I’ll always remember that.”