On Sunday, the Indianapolis Colts traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, to take on their longtime division rival, the Tennessee Titans. The two teams have an extensive history, facing off two times per season since the NFL’s most recent expansion in 2002.
There’s no love lost between the frequent foes, with every matchup critical to the AFC South standings. Even with Indianapolis’ dominance of the series, holding a four-game winning streak over Tennessee heading into the game, each meeting elevates emotions to a season high for players, coaches and fans.
But for two Colts, cornerback Charvarius Ward and defensive analyst Brent Stockstill, Sunday’s trip into enemy territory felt like a homecoming.
“Every game is a big game in the NFL … but being close to where I grew up and being able to see some people who either come to the game or work for the Titans’ organization that I know is always fun,” said Stockstill, a Murfreesboro, Tennessee, native. “It makes it a little more special just coming back and seeing those people.”
The pair spent two seasons as Blue Raider teammates in the late 2010s: Ward at corner and Stockstill at quarterback. Now, as MTSU alums, they returned to their collegiate stomping grounds as the Colts (3-0) trounced the Titans (0-3) 41-20 in Nissan Stadium.
Through three weeks of the 2025 NFL season, there’s perhaps been no team as surprising as the Colts. Indianapolis is one of only six remaining undefeated teams after being discarded by national media outlets all offseason, but don’t try telling Ward that.
“We just try to keep everything in house … We knew nobody was giving us a shot to be good or anything like that, but like I said, we’ve just been believing in each other and going hard and obviously that work is paying off now for everybody involved,” Ward said.
A first-year member of the Colts, Ward serves as the team’s No. 1 cornerback while Stockstill’s offensive background aids his day-to-day responsibilities as a defensive analyst, including film breakdowns, presentations and drawings. While their roles vastly differ, both have a hand in Indy’s best start since 2009.
Ward was a key offseason addition for the Colts, brought in to provide consistency to a passing defense ranked 26th in 2024. He arrived at the team’s facility a week after signing and was admittedly surprised to discover his former teammate on the coaching staff.
“Once I got to Indy, I saw him in the building and I was like d— … you work here,” Ward said with a laugh.
On his fourth NFL team and in a new city, Ward suddenly felt more at home with an old friend by his side. Stockstill routinely coaches the defensive backs, and his offensive perspective has helped so far this season, he said.
“It’s crazy how the times change, man,” Ward said. “We were competing against each other every day in practice, and on Saturdays, we were competing with each other; now he’s coaching me to get better.”
Whether it be on the field or in the coaches’ box, both men continue to make it in the NFL, but their paths to get there couldn’t have been more different.
Hometown hero
Stockstill was a coach’s kid from birth. Never taking interest in any particular team, he grew up rooting for whatever program employed his father, Rick Stockstill. He moved with his parents to Murfreesboro in 5th grade when his dad took the head coaching job at MTSU.
The left-handed QB starred at Siegel High School before committing to play for his dad at MTSU, where he finished his playing career as the Blue Raiders’ all-time leader in passing yards (12,495), touchdown passes (106), 300-yard passing games (19), 400-yard passing games (three), passing yards per game (277.7), completions (1,055) and pass attempts (1,610).
Above his statistical accolades, however, was Brent Stockstill’s willingness to compete. No matter the bruises, whether it be injuries to his ribs, shoulder, collarbone or the torn ACL he played on in the high school state playoffs, Brent Stockstill was always ready to go to war on game day, Ward said.
“Brent was a warrior,” Ward said of his college teammate. “He wasn’t the biggest guy or anything like that, he wasn’t the fastest guy … He would go out there every Saturday and put up 30, 35, 40 points just ballin ‘slinging that thing around. It was just a pleasure to watch him.”
Following his playing days, Brent Stockstill spent two seasons on the staffs of Florida Atlantic and South Florida before reuniting with his father as a wide receivers coach in 2022 and quarterback/passing game coordinator in 2023 for the final years of Rick Stockstill’s MTSU tenure. He joined the Colts as a defensive analyst in 2024 and is currently in the midst of his second season.
“Honestly, it’s just a dream come true to be in the position I am and just to be around the type of people, coaches and players, just to experience this has been really special,” Brent Stockstill said.
Late bloomer
Ward, or “Mooney” as he is affectionately referred to by most, didn’t begin his NFL journey close to campus. Though he cannot recall how his mother came up with the nickname, Ward certainly remembers where he came from.
Before he was a Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs or a second-team All-Pro selection with the San Francisco 49ers, Ward was just a self-proclaimed bookworm, focused on getting good grades and making ends meet for his family in McComb, Mississippi.
Truthfully, Ward only began playing football during his senior year at McComb High School to help pay for college, but everything took off from there, he said. Despite being a “late bloomer” as a football player, Ward’s raw ability drew the eyes of Hinds Community College, where he played his first two years at the next level.
Middle Tennessee added Ward as a transfer for his junior and senior seasons, where his maturation as a player and a person caught the attention of the team’s quarterback.
“He had played such little football, but he was so talented … To me, the cool story is just being able to see him from the start, almost, to where he’s molded himself and created at the highest level,” Brent Stockstill said.
During his senior season at MTSU in 2017, Ward totaled 48 tackles, three TFLs, one sack and a team-best 14 pass breakups in a career year. Following the 2018 NFL Draft, Ward signed with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent. The Cowboys traded him to the Chiefs in training camp, where he earned a starting role over the next few seasons in Kansas City.
Ward is in the midst of his eighth season in the league, while Brent Stockstill is in his second season in the NFL with the Colts. Though it’s difficult to always keep up, both men remember their Blue Raider roots, with Brent Stockstill still frequently checking up on Middle Tennessee’s current QB and runner-up in all-time passing yards, Nick Vattiato.
Ward hasn’t paid as much attention to MTSU since the program fired Rick Stockstill in 2023; however, he’ll always pull for the boys in blue, he said.
“I was just kind of excited for [those] boys because it seems like they have a lot of good energy, good vibes going around … I just like to root [those] boys on, man; I want to see everybody from MTSU succeed in athletics or in life,” Ward said. “I just root for them because it’s near and dear to the heart.”
Lead photo illustration by Brett Walker. Images courtesy of the Indianapolis Colts.
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