KiJuan Ware was named the interim head football coach at Macalester on June 1, 2021. He joined the Macalester football coaching staff as the Scots’ offensive coordinator in 2019. Ware, who most recently was an assistant at Division II Shippensburg (Pa.) University, brings 20 years of coaching experience to Macalester.
At Shippensburg, Ware was the recruiting coordinator and coached the running backs and tight ends for one season. Prior to his time at Shippensburg, he spent two seasons at Shorter University in Rome, Ga., as the offensive coordinator, recruiting coordinator and quarterbacks coach. In 2017, his offense broke 17 school records at Shorter. Ware also was the quarterbacks coach at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., for the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
From 2004 through the 2013 season, Ware coached at Division I programs, serving in a variety of roles. He spent two seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., before heading to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., to become the receivers coach and recruiting coordinator for two seasons. In 2008, Ware worked with the running backs at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., as an intern, and contributed to a victory in the Hawaii Bowl.
After Notre Dame, Ware served as the running backs coach at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio for two seasons, including the 2010 Mid-American Conference championship season. Under Ware’s guidance, the RedHawks significantly increased their rushing yards, rushing yards per game and rushing touchdowns. He then moved on to Western Illinois in Macomb, Ill., where he was the offensive coordinator and running backs coach for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Ware also coached the defensive backs at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich., for the 2013 campaign.
Ware is a 1997 graduate of Springfield (Mass.) College, where he majored in mathematics and computer science. He also played football and baseball all four years at Springfield. In 2000, he was named a Fulbright Scholar. Ware began his coaching career as an assistant at Springfield in 2002, and earned his Master’s of Science degree in physical education and athletic administration in 2004.
A native of Hartford, Conn., Ware and his wife Michelle have a daughter, Kalyx.
