Over the next week or so, Warchant.com will unveil our list of the Five Greatest Recruiting Classes in Florida State football history.
* First installment: Discussing the grading criteria, which classes just missed the cut
* Today: Class No. 5 -- 1989
* Coming Monday: Class No. 4 -- ???
The concern for Willard and Charlie Ward Sr., during the recruitment of their supremely talented son was whether he would get a legitimate chance to play quarterback in college.
Charlie Jr. was a star QB at Central High School in Thomasville, Ga., and had proven himself to be a terrific passer, but he was so gifted as a runner that the parents were rightly concerned that he would be asked to switch positions once he got to college.
Bobby Bowden promised the Ward family that he was indeed recruiting their son as a quarterback. He also told them he would have no problem with him trying out for the Seminoles' basketball team as well.
And boy did that work out for everyone involved.
A few years later, Ward would lead the basketball team to an Elite 8 run as the starting point guard and then win the school's first Heisman Trophy eight months later.
While he wasn't the only great player in Florida State's 1989 signing class, Ward's decision to trust Bowden is a large reason why that group finished all the way up at No. 5 in our rankings for the greatest classes in Florida State history.
Just to get you caught up: We broke down each class by assigning point values to certain criteria.
A player got two points for being a starter or major contributor, three points for being an NFL draft pick, four points for being on a reputable All-America team, five points for being an NFL first-round draft pick, six points for being a consensus or unanimous All-American, seven points for winning a national award, eight points for winning the Heisman and 10 points for having his jersey retired.
Amazingly, in the case of the 1989 class, Charlie Ward wasn't even the highest scorer.
Because he wasn't drafted in the NFL (that other sport worked out pretty well for him), Ward finished with 26 points on our scale. Cornerback Terrell Buckley finished with 30. Those two combined for 56 of the class' 97 total points. And while it's fair to argue that the 1989 class was top heavy, man, did it have an impressive top.
Buckley and Ward turned out to be two of the best players in college football history.
Buckley came to Florida State from Pascagoula, Miss., and immediately became one of the most electrifying punt returners in the country. But he was also a sensational defensive back, who intercepted 12 passes in 1991 on his way to winning the Jim Thorpe Award.
Buckley then was drafted with the No. 5 pick of the first round by the Green Bay Packers in 1992 and enjoyed a long career in the NFL.
Buckley still holds FSU's records for most interceptions in a season and a career, and he's also the NCAA record holder for most interception return yards in a career. Ward and Buckley alone are enough to make this an all-time class. But there were other big-time players who came in with them and helped turn FSU's football program into a dynasty.
