In February, former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver and Georgia star Hines Ward told 247Sports that he would have an interest in joining Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart’s staff in the near future.

Maybe he didn’t get his message across. Because he’s “dead serious” about it.

“I’m dead serious. I want to coach at Georgia,” Ward told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday. “I’ve expressed that to Kirby. I haven’t had any talk with him about what all goes into it, but I think I’ve put it out there. I’m serious. I want to give back to my alma mater.”

Judging from his comments from the earlier this year and what he recently said to the AJC, it sounds like Ward would welcome a role as a recruiting assistant. Before, he said it “irks” him when Georgia loses “great talent,” and yesterday, it escalated to this:

“Sometimes I get upset,” he said. “I see kids leave the state of Georgia (during recruiting season) to go play for other teams. I knew if I walked into that room, there’s no way that kid’s leaving the state of Georgia.”

Ward, who won two Super Bowls with the Steelers and earned an MVP award in the process, would seemingly jump on any opportunity to land on the coaching staff, but understands that it might be a little too late for this season.

“Timing is everything,” he said. “Maybe down the road there’ll be an opportunity for me to do something I’ve always wanted to do — to coach back at the University of Georgia.”