After a coaching search that featured several twists and turns, Cedar Hill ISD named Midlothian defensive back coach Nick Ward as the next head football coach at Cedar Hill High School.  

Coach Ward replaces Carlos Lynn, who resigned at Cedar Hill after a disappointing 2-8 campaign. Lynn spent six years at Cedar Hill and led the Longhorns to the 6A-Division II state title game in 2020. Ward has ties to Cedar Hill as he spent time on Carlos Lynn’s staff in 2020 and 2021 and coached in the state title game in 2020.

Ward is a native of Dallas and a graduate of Seagoville High School. He has a strong resume that includes being a four-year letterman at the University of Miami. Ward played alongside the likes of Ray Lewis, Reggie Wayne and Ed Reed during his tenure in Miami and he was also a member of the Hurricanes track and field team.

The new head coach at Cedar Hill then spent 10 seasons as a player in the Arena Football League before transitioning to coaching in the Arena League in 2009. Ward also interned with the Atlanta Falcons starting in 2010 and continued that relationship with the Falcons up through the 2015 season. Ward made the jump to high school football In 2012, joining the coaching staff at Georgia powerhouse North Gwinnett High School where he coached in a Georgia state title game in 2013.

In 2016, Coach Ward returned to his native Texas joining the middle school staff in Cleburne. He spent just one year at the middle school before being elevated to the Cleburne High School staff by new head coach Casey Walraven. Ward then went to North Mesquite for the 2018 season and then returned to Dallas ISD in 2019 as a defensive assistant at Dallas Lincoln.

In Ward’s lone season at Midlothian, he was an assistant on a defense that helped the Panthers to a 12-1 mark as MHS fell to eventual state champion Aledo in an overtime thriller. Ward's younger brother, Kyle Ward, is the defensive coordinator for two-time state 5A-Division II champion South Oak Cliff. 

Cedar Hill will need to adjust quickly to the new coaching staff as there’s no rest for the weary in a brutal 11-6A race that features two defending state champions in Duncanville and DeSoto along with fast rising Waxahachie, who posted a 10-3 mark in 2022.