Career
He was head coach at University of California Riverside from 1972 to 1973, Long Beach State from 1974 to 1976 and Utah from 1977 to 1981. He had a career record of 70–37–2. Utah lured Howard away from Long Beach State after three winning seasons as head coach there.
During his five seasons at Utah, his winning percentage of.554 was better than that of his predecessor, Tom Lovat (152), and his successor, Chuck Stobart (489).
He retired after losing to Brigham Young University, but he was not clear why. He later said, "I just did.
Number real reason. I wasn"t unhappy. I was not treated badly.
I really never tried to get another job.
I liked it there. They treated me well."
Brigham Young University rivalry
During the Brigham Young University game in 1977, Brigham Young University head coach LaVell Edwards put starting quarterback Marc Wilson back into the game with two minutes remaining so that Wilson could set a then National Collegiate Athletic Association record for 571 passing yards in a game. After the game, Howard said, "This today will be inspiring.
The hatred between Brigham Young University and Utah is nothing compared to what it will be.
lieutenant will be a crusade to beat Brigham Young University from now on. This is a prediction: in the next two years Utah will drill Brigham Young University someday, but we won’t run up the score even if we could set an National Collegiate Athletic Association record against them." The next year Howard made good on his promise, upsetting Brigham Young University 23–22. In an interview after retiring, Howard hinted that he did not like aspects of the Brigham Young University rivalry.
"I did not like that.
I really didn"t.
