Courtesy of SC State Athletics
ORANGEBURG, SC–South Carolina State (SC State) football has announced an addition to the Bulldog coaching staff, selecting Thomas Howard as the new defensive coordinator/, head coach Buddy Pough announced. Thomas joins the Bulldog coaching staff after a brief stint at Norfolk State. Prior to NSU, he served as the assistant coach on the North Carolina A&T (NC A&T)staff where he coached linebackers recently as well as serving as the defensive passing coordinator and was responsible for the defensive backs.
In his first season as defensive backs coach, Howard coached several Aggie players to perfection and went on to earn All-MEAC Honors. In addition, the NC A&T State secondary was ranked 12th nationally in passing yards allowed, and the following season, the Aggies ranked 35th nationally in interceptions.
Before coming to A&T, Howard was an assistant at the University of Findlay. He was the co-defensive and special teams coordinator during his time there. Prior to Findlay, Howard had coaching stints at Lincoln University (where he served as interim head coach in 2010), Slippery Rock University, and Allen University where he was the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach. He also served one year as the assistant athletic director/compliance coordinator and two years as the school’s academic adviser/recruiting coordinator.
A participant in the NFL/NCAA Coaches Academy, Thomas Howard was a four-year performer on the football team at Morehouse College in Atlanta, where served two seasons as team captain and earned the team’s most improved player award as a junior and defensive back of the year award in his senior season. He graduated cum laude in May 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in early childhood development.