Darin Ward named new Boonville High School athletic director

BOONVILLE — Darin Ward used the past year as an opportunity to reflect.

He stepped down as the Boonville High School football coach in March 2025 due to the consistent grind of the job. Ward remained a teacher at the school and used the intervening time to recharge. He never fully stayed away from athletics, including a stint as a volunteer assistant basketball coach.

The past 14 months allowed him to determine what his next focus should be.

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Ward was approved to become the next Boonville athletic director during the Warrick County School Corp. board meeting on Monday, May 11. He said the opportunity allows him to continue making an impact at his alma mater.

"I'm just at a different kind of phase of my career," Ward said. "I've always been conditioned to working with young people as a football coach for a number of years. It was good to take a year off from coaching to recharge my batteries. I'm really eager to help work with other coaches from other sports on ways that their lives can be a little bit easier."

The 1992 graduate played football at Indiana University under the late coach Bill Mallory before earning a degree in health and physical education/fitness. His head coaching career included two stints at Corydon Central (2001-03 and 2009-13) and one year at Charlestown before returning to Warrick County in 2015.

Boonville Head Coach Darin Ward coaches from the sideline against Memorial during the 4A sectional semifinal at Boonville High School Friday night, Nov. 1, 2019.

Ward was the football coach at Boonville for 10 seasons. He led the Pioneers to 59 victories, including a Big Eight Conference title and undefeated regular season in 2018, with only one losing season at the helm. He was 129-76 overall across 19 years as a head coach with a regional championship at Corydon (2011) and sectional title at Charlestown (2014).