On July 1, 2022 Dylan Howard was hired as an assistant men’s basketball for Southern University. Coach Howard is no stranger to the Southwestern Athletic Conference having previously coached at Mississippi Valley St University as an assistant coach and at Alabama A&M as the head coach the last three seasons. When Coach Howard was at Mississippi Valley he was an assistant coach under head coach Sean Woods.
During the 2021-22 season, Alabama A&M saw its best record since its 2015-16 outing going 10-8 in conference play. They made it to the semi-final round of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship Tournament last season for the first time in five years. Throughout his tenure at Alabama A&M as the head coach, Dylan Howard had great success on off the court. He had several big in state wins vs Jacksonville St, Troy, North Alabama, South Alabama, and Samford. After the Samford win in 2020 Coach Howard had his team ranked #1 in the nation in the RPI rankings. The first time any HBCU was ranked #1. Coach Howard also was successful in the classroom having a multiyear APR score of 947.
Player development was a big key for his success. One of the best players in conference was Jalen Johnson from Indianapolis, Indiana. He was 1st team All SWAC in 2022 and 2nd team All SWAC in 2021. He was also two-time BOXTOROW All American. Howard took over the Bulldog program as the interim head coach prior to the 2018 season and immediately impacted the program's success. As interim head coach he recruited and developed Andre Kennedy into 2nd team All SWAC.
Before leading the Alabama A&M men's basketball program, Howard acted as the associate head coach for the 2017-18 season. He held the same position at Morehead State for five seasons, helping the team win 86 games and a second-place finish in the 2016 College Basketball Invitational. Howard was the top assistant at Mississippi Valley State from 2008-11. He assisted in putting together two top-50 recruiting classes in three seasons at MVSU. Coach Howard recruited five All-SWAC players, including 2012 MVP Paul Crosby and SWAC Tournament MVP Cor-J Cox.
Prior to MVSU, Howard had a seven-year run (2001-08) as the head coach at Division III Hardin-Simmons in Abilene, Texas. He was named American Southwest Conference Coach of the Year in 2005 after guiding the Cowboys to their first-ever league tournament appearance. In 2007, HSU reached the ASC Tournament championship game for the first time in school history. Coach Howard developed three conference players of year while at Hardin Simmons. Calvin Nite (2005), Zach Pickelman (2007), and Mardochee Jean (2008).
Coach Howard started his coaching career at the University of St. Francis (NAIA) in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. He helped guide St. Francis to a 31-win season and the #1 ranked team in the nation in 2000 and coached the national player of the year Steve Smith.
As a player, Howard played at UAB. As a player he won 84 games and led them to NCAA Tournament appearances in 1986 and 1987 and an NIT Final Four berth in 1989. After college, he went on to be a two-time all-league selection in the Asian Professional Basketball Association in Taipei, Taiwan.
Howard earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from UAB in 1992 and a master's degree in sports recreation and management from Hardin-Simmons in 2005 obtaining a 4.0 GPA while being the head coach.
In 2010, Howard was named to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame's Silver Anniversary Team.
Howard, a McDonald’s All-American Nominee, was invited to the 1985 McDonald’s Derby Classic, was rated as high as the nation’s 11th-best player in the nation in high school.
Howard is married to his wife Nicole, and they have one daughter, Danielle.
"I am very excited to once again be reunited with Coach Woods at Southern University. We have spent several years together putting together winning programs at Mississippi Valley State University and Morehead State. Coach Woods is a great coach, great teacher, and great mentor. I look forward to being a part of the Jaguar Nation".
