Nicholas Wade Howell (born February 26, 1980) is an American football coach. He is the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

at New Mexico.

Coaching career

High School

Howell began his career coaching high school football. He worked from 2002 to 2006 for

Sky View High School Sky View High School (SVHS), is located in Smithfield, Utah. Sky View is the northernmost public high school in the state. As part of the Cache County School District, it serves approximately 1,300 students in grades 9 through 12. In addition ...

Weber High School Weber High School is a Utah secondary school located in Pleasant View, Utah, about five miles north of Ogden. It serves the residents of Pleasant View, North Ogden, Harrisville, Huntsville, Eden, and Liberty. It is part of the Weber School ...

, and

Ben Lomond High School Ben Lomond High School is a comprehensive high school located in the Ogden City School District of Ogden, Utah, Ogden, Utah, United States, currently educating students in grades 10–12. As of 2018, the school principal, principal is Steve Poll, ...

where he was the head coach.

BYU

He went to BYU in 2007 as an unpaid defensive intern and became a member of the coaching staff as a graduate assistant in 2008 and later a full-time assistant in 2010. While coaching the secondary the 2011 defense was 15th in pass efficiency and 12th in overall defense. In 2012 the BYU's defense finished third nationally in total defense and 10th in passing yards allowed. In 2013, BYU coach

Bronco Mendenhall Marc Bronco Clay Mendenhall (born February 21, 1966) is an American football coach who most recently coached at The University of Virginia. He stepped down after the 2021 season. Mendenhall joined Virginia in 2015 after spending the previous elev ...

promoted Howell to replace him as

. As a full time coordinator Howell's Cougar defense finished 12th nationally in yards per play 16th in pass efficiency and 22nd in scoring defense. They ranked 20th nationally in rush defense in 2014 and sixth nationally in sacks per game in 2015.

Virginia

Following Mendenhall's departure from Brigham Young University in December 2015 Howell followed him to the University of Virginia. While at Virginia in 2017 Howells's defense ranked seventh in the nations against the pass. In 2018 the Cavaliers finished among the nation's top 20 in opponent pass efficiency. Howell also helped lead Virginia Atlantic Coast Conference championship game and an Orange Bowl Berth tallying a program record 43 sacks. In 2021 the defense stepped up when it mattered most finishing 28th nationally in red zone defense.

Vanderbilt

Following the end of the 2021 season, Howell was not retained by the new UVA coaching staff but was instead was hired at Vanderbilt in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

as their

. While servings as Defensive Coordinator in 2022 the Commodores led the SEC with 12 interceptions and were fourth in the SEC in defensive touchdowns.

New Mexico

After the 2023 season Howell left his position at Vanderbilt with

Clark Lea Clark Lea (born November 11, 1981) is an American football coach who is currently the head football coach at Vanderbilt. He previously served as the defensive coordinator at the University of Notre Dame from 2018 to 2020. Lea began his coaching ...

and reunited with

at New Mexico.

Personal life

Howell grew up in North Ogden, Utah, and graduated in 1998 from

, where his father Roger was a longtime high school coach and athletic director. After high School he served a

LDS Mission A mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is a geographical administrative area to which church missionaries are assigned. Almost all areas of the world are within the boundaries of an LDS Church mission, whether ...

in Brazil. Following his church mission, Howell went to

Snow College Snow College is a public community college in Ephraim, Utah. It offers certificates and associate degrees in a number of areas, along with bachelor's degrees in music and software engineering and a four-year nursing program. Snow College is part ...

to play football but his career was cut short when he was injured, so he followed his father into the coaching profession. He earned a bachelor's degree in history from Weber State University and a M.A. from the University of Phoenix. Howell and his wife Brooke have four children.

References

External links

New Mexico profile
1980 births Living people BYU Cougars football coaches Virginia Cavaliers football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches New Mexico Lobos football coaches High school football coaches in Utah Weber State University alumni Sportspeople from Ogden, Utah People from North Ogden, Utah Latter Day Saints from Utah Latter Day Saints from Virginia Snow Badgers football players {{2000s-collegefootball-coach-stub