Bethlehem Catholic’s football coaching vacancy was always going to garner plenty of interest, but having a coach from Alabama’s Oak Mountain High School apply was probably something athletic director Chris Domyan didn’t envision when the season ended for the Golden Hawks.

That has now become a reality, as Tyler Ward was officially announced as the new head coach of the program Monday evening.

Ward, a 2014 Lehigh graduate and former team captain as defensive back, has spent the past two seasons as offensive coordinator/assistant head coach at Oak Mountain, a 7A school that plays in a conference against nationally ranked programs Hoover and Hewitt-Trussville.

The 31-year-old Charlottesville, VA native always knew he wanted to come back to the Lehigh Valley after spending his years in college on the South Side, as well as his wife Caitlin being from Bethlehem.

Ward has always monitored the coaching vacancies in the area and threw his name in the hat following Kyle Haas’ abrupt midseason resignation.

“I saw the position was going to be open and decided to apply after the season,” said Ward. “I still have a lot of connections in the Lehigh Valley and always tried to keep up with what’s going on in the coaching scene. When this job opened up, I knew it was something I wanted. Beca has a great tradition and it’s a program that I highly think of, so hopefully I’m the perfect mesh for the school.”

Ward began his coaching career at Franklin and Marshall College under the direction of John Troxell, current head coach of Lafayette. He then returned to the Lehigh Valley to coach at his alma mater from 2016-19.

He then transitioned to high school football and spent two seasons in Savannah, Georgia, at Savannah Country Day School, where he was able to help lead them to their first region championship in 40 years as an offensive coordinator, before heading to Birmingham, Alabama, where he helped Oak Mountain reach the second round of their playoff tournament for only the second time in school history.

Domyan is excited about what Ward can bring to the table for a program that finished last season 6-6 after losing to Central Catholic 14-3 in the District 11 4A finals. The Hawks had over 60 applicants from across the country including Maryland, Texas, Florida and California for an extensive search.

“Tyler has it all,” said Domyan. “He’s an authentic person with a definitive plan for success and a passion for working with young men in all aspects of football, faith and family. He has coached and developed some of the country’s most elite student-athletes resulting in scholarships for all levels of college football. We believe that he will be incredibly successful in his tenure at Becahi, mostly evidenced by his desire and strong commitment to join the Becahi family. He exemplifies Christian values and will lead our young men on the field, as well as in the classroom, and most importantly, in life.”

Ward, who will also have a position at the high school, plans to be in Bethlehem by the second week of February where he will meet with players and finalize a coaching staff, starting with the group that was in place from last season. From there, it’s all about building the foundation for the program he envisions moving forward.

“We always want to be a standards over goals type of program,” said Ward. “Passion, purpose, attitude and effort are going to be our pillars. We want to have a one way mentality to seek out the best possible way to train, study and prepare to make these student-athletes the best possible version of themselves.”

Through it all, Ward is happy to be heading somewhere where he can finally lay some roots down and get some food from his old college stomping grounds.

“I think of Bethlehem as a second home,” he said. “My wife’s family and friends are all close to here and we both knew we wanted to come back to the area and start a family. I also can’t wait to get a sandwich from the Goosey Gander.”