Nicholas Wade Howell (born February 26, 1980) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

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 ...

and

defensive backs In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

coach at Vanderbilt.

Coaching career

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. He went to

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

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. 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

. Following Mendenhall's departure from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

in December 2015 Howell followed him to the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

. Following the end of the 2021 season, Howell was not retained by the new UVA coaching staff. Howell 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 defensive coordinator.

Personal life

Howell grew up in

North Ogden, Utah North Ogden is a city in Weber County, Utah, United States. The population was 20,916 at the 2020 census. North Ogden is on SR-235, three miles north of Ogden. It is a suburb of that city and is part of the Ogden- Clearfield, Utah Metropolita ...

, 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 ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. 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 Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. History Weber State University was founded ...

and a M.A. from the

University of Phoenix University of Phoenix (UoPX) is a private for-profit university headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1976, the university confers certificates and degrees at the certificate, associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree lev ...

. Howell and his wife Brooke have four children.

References

External links

Virginia profile
1980 births Living people BYU Cougars football coaches Virginia Cavaliers football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores 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