Coach Howell attended The Citadel where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Math (Education). He also earned a Master of Education in educational leadership from the University of South Carolina. A native of the Columbia area, Coach Howell attended Brookland-Cayce High School where he played football for the Bearcats. He is married to the former Laura Sherrill of West Columbia, and they are proud parents of Kaleigh Grace (12), Connor Dean (10) and Taylor Elizabeth (5), all Crusaders since day one.  They are active members of Northside Baptist Church where Coach Howell leads a life group and serves as a deacon.

 

Coach Dean Howell enters his second season as the head coach at Northside after transitioning the team into 11-man football a year ago.  Coach Howell comes to NCA after a 26-year career in public schools, including 12 years as a head coach, the last 8 at White Knoll High School in Lexington.  After posting a 6-5 record in his first year, Coach Howell led the Timberwolves to their first region championship in school history in year two, winning eight straight games at one point.  The Timberwolves class of 2017 placed a school-record seven athletes into the college ranks for football and accumulated an overall 3.21 GPA.  The team placed four members to the All-Area team as picked by The State paper and the HSSR honored two Timberwolves at the state level as well.    The 2017 team continued down the same path, recording 8 wins against 5 losses and picking up 2 wins in the 5A playoffs.  Five Timberwolves were named to the All-Region team with Joe Beckett picking up All-State honors in addition to being named to participate in the North-South All-Star Game in Myrtle Beach. Shaheem Haltiwanger became just the third player in White Knoll history to represent the school in the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas.  His last three years were near .500 campaigns and Coach Howell enters this season with an 81-52 overall record.

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Previous to White Knoll, Coach Howell spent four years at A.C. Flora, where, under his leadership, the AC Flora Falcons won three straight region championships. His 2011 football season was the most successful season in school history with the Falcons posting a 12-2 record and reaching the Lower State Finals. Flora continued their winning ways in 2012 with an 11-2 record while reaching the third round of the playoffs.  More importantly, Coach Howell’s teams at Flora were busy in the classroom as well, consistently posting a team GPA over 3.2 and graduating 17 seniors with honors. His staff placed 27 players on the All-Region team the last three years, including the last two Region Players of the Year.  Three Falcons represented AC Flora in the North-South All-Star Game, and two of the last three All-Area Players of the Year on offense and defense in The State paper played for Coach Howell at Flora. His teams produced 13 young men who went on to play college football.  In all, Coach Howell has been fortunate enough to coach over 30 athletes who competed collegiately and 3 NFL players. Also, five assistant coaches from his staff have gone on to become head coaches. 

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Coach Howell’s football experience spans 27 seasons and includes stops at four different area schools.  His career started at Richland Northeast under Joe Wingard and continued for Coach Jay Frye. In two years as the varsity offensive line coach, he coached two young men who played in all-star games and later played college football. From there, he spent four years at White Knoll High School under Mark Cagle and coached two more young men to all-star games and on to the college ranks. His next coaching stop was at Brookland-Cayce where he spent time as the offensive line coach and coordinated the offense for Brad Coleman.  Again, he coached two position players into an all-star game who later went on to play college football. At Chapin High in 2008, he was the varsity running backs coach for Larry Grady. Coach Howell’s first season at AC Flora in 2009 was a subpar 4-6 before turning it around and winning 33 of his final 39 games at the school, including a 6-3 record in the playoffs.