[1] A Peoria, Illinois native, Howard was a four-year letter winner for the Fighting Illini from 2000 to 2004, including three seasons for Bill Self.
He also was a two-time winner of the Kenny Battle Award, an accolade voted upon by the players and coaches and given to an Illini who earns the respect of his teammates through hard work and effort in games and practice each day.
Prior to SMU, Howard spent the previous five seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Illinois.
Howard filled the opening created when assistant Joe Dooley left to take the coaching job at Florida Gulf Coast in mid-April.
[3] In April 2021, Bill Self announced that Howard had taken an assistant job under new University of Texas coach Chris Beard.