Howard comes to Lincoln after spending the past four seasons as an assistant at South Alabama, where he was promoted to associate head coach for the Jaguars prior to the 2021-22 season. At USA, he coordinated the Jaguars' full- and half-court defensive sets and worked with the post players, helping three players earn all-conference recognition.
In his four years at the school under Coach Richie Riley, South Alabama has gone 75-51, including a pair of 20-win seasons, after the school had five straight losing seasons. During his tenure at USA, Howard's defenses have ranked in the top-50 nationally in field goal defense in each of the past two years, while also lowering their opponent field goal and 3-point percentage in each of the past three seasons. His defenses have also recorded at least 200 steals per season, averaging nearly seven steals a game in that span.
This season, the Jaguars went 21-12 and reached the semifinals of The Basketball Classic, while the Jaguars' 21 wins are the most at the school since the 2007-08 season. South Alabama ranks in the top 40 nationally in scoring defense (64.0 ppg, 34th), field goal percentage defense (.404, 37th) and blocked shots per game (4.9, 25th).