MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois University will begin fall workouts this weekend with a new running backs coach as Thaddaeus Ward has been hired to replace Ronnie Harmon.?Thaddaeus has unlimited enthusiasm for his position and and a work ethic that is second to none," said head coach Don Patterson. "Being not that far removed from his playing days, he has a sensitivity for the demands placed on student-athletes and understands how to prepare players to meet those challenges.?Ward has experience coaching at a variety of levels in the past three years, from the Big Ten to high school. The Tallahassee, Fla., native spent the 2003-04 seasons at Tallahassee Rickards High School as the wide receivers and defensive backs coach and also served as the interim head coach. Ward was the defensive backs coach at Independence Community College during the 2005 spring season, and most recently spent the month of July assisting the University of Illinois football program. Ward began his collegiate coaching career at Florida A&M as a graduate assistant during the 2002 season. There he coached free safety Levi Brown who earned first-team all-conference and all-America honors and was a candidate for the Buck Buchanan Award.?The opportunity to work with some great young men and an experienced staff attracted me to this position,? Ward said. ?I?m looking forward to getting started. We?ve got some exciting players coming back and I?m anxious to help enhance their abilities. ?As a player, Ward earned three letters (1999-2001) as a wide receiver at Central Florida, ranking second on the team as a senior with 43 receptions for 446 yards and an average of 40.5 receiving yards per outing. He ranked 22nd among all independent I-A players in all-purpose running that year, averaging 43 yards per game and 9.85 yards per play. The Golden Knights went 7-4 in 2000 and 6-5 in 2001 when Ward was named the team?s most improved player. A 1998 all-Jayhawk Conference team selection, he was a team captain as a redshirt freshman at Coffeyville Community College.Ward received his bachelor?s degree in criminal justice from Central Florida in 2001. He was an all-conference and all-state honoree at Godby High School, graduating in 1997. He and his wife, Jocelyn, have a daughter Jayda, 5, and are expecting a son, Thaddaeus, Jr., in August. Ward?s brother, Travis Fisher, is entering his fourth year as a starting cornerback for the St. Louis Rams.Fall Camp Opens SaturdayThe Leathernecks will open fall camp this weekend as players are scheduled to report to campus this Friday, Aug. 5. The first of 20 practice sessions will be held this Saturday at 3 p.m. with a helmets-only workout on the practice fields adjacent to Brophy Hall.Players will go through an acclimitization period of four helmets-only workouts before donning full pads for practice No. 5, Wednesday, Aug. 10. Scrimmages are scheduled for Saturday Aug. 13 and Saturday, Aug. 20, the final practice session of fall camp before classes begin Aug. 22.The Leathernecks open the 2005 season with a pair of Thursday night games - Sept. 1 at Toledo and Sept. 8 at home against Northern Colorado.