By Jason Avery
News-Times Staff
If there is one thing that the coaching carousel in Union County this year has showed, it’s that you can come home again.
Following in the footsteps of Jacob Midyett, Steven Jones and Kanedria Andrews, former Strong standout Alex Howell is returning to his alma mater as an assistant coach for both football and boys basketball.
“It’s very exciting. I’m very happy and ready to take on the challenge of trying to get the program back to where it was when I was playing,” Howell said.
After finishing his career at Strong, Howell played college basketball at Philander Smith.
In his freshman year, Howell helped guide the Panthers to the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament crown, the first at the school since they moved to the NAIA ranks.
After graduating last year, Howell taught in Farmerville, La., before getting the opportunity at Strong.
“I wanted to come back home and help the youth out and help the people out that watched me play,” Howell said. “I got the opportunity to get on board with coach (Greg) Anthony and the coaching staff.”
Although he is more known for his prowess on the hardwood, Howell played football in his freshman and sophomore years with the Bulldogs, playing at running back and cornerback.
“I’m just now getting to meet with him (Anthony), so I really don’t really know exactly what I’ll be doing in football,” Howell said. “I’ll just be happy to try and help them out and see where I can improve them.”
Howell added that his connection with the school will be a plus in relating to the players.
“I feel I can relate to them,” Howell said. “They know who I am. I’m not much older than a lot of them, and I just got done playing, so I feel if you can make things fun and still have discipline, I feel you’ve got a great chance of getting your schemes implemented. I feel like I can bring that to them and get the best out of them.”
Having enjoyed plenty of success at Strong, Howell is eager to help out the next generation of Bulldogs.
“I’m really excited,” Howell said. “This is the community I played for, and getting to coach the kids that I watched when they were little. Now I get the chance to get back and help those kids and teach them about getting to college and what it’s going to take to get to college. My people helped me, now it’s time for me to help them. I’m excited about that.”