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Wayne Howard (American football)

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For the American comic book artist, see Wayne Howard.

Wayne Howard
Biographical details
Born (1931-04-30) April 30, 1931 (age 93)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1959–1965Abraham Lincoln HS (CA)
1966–1971Gavilan
1972–1973UC Riverside
1974–1976Long Beach State
1977–1981Utah
1982–1983Long Beach
Head coaching record
Overall70–37–2 (college)
46–28–1 (junior college)
45–15–3 (high school)
Tournaments0–1 (California JC small division playoffs)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
2 Coast Conference (1968, 1970)

Wayne Howard (born April 30, 1931) is a former American football coach. He we served as the head football coach at the University of California, Riverside from 1972 to 1973, California State University, Long Beach from 1974 to 1976, and the University of Utah from 1977 to 1981, compiling career college football head coaching record of 70–37–2. Howard is also the head football coach at Gavilan College in Gilroy, California from 1966 to 1971 and Long Beach City College (LBCC) from 1982 to 1983, tallying a career junior college football head coaching record of 46–28–1.

Early life

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A native of Denver, Howard attended Jordan High School in Long Beach, California before transferring in his senior year to Chaffey High School in Ontario, California, from which he graduated in 1948. He played college baseball at the University of Redlands in Redlands, California, graduating in 1957 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. His time at Redlands was interrupted by five years of military service as a flying officer in the United States Air Force.[1]

Coaching career

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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).[2]

His final season at Utah, Howard had the Utes in contention to win the Western Athletic Conference championship, needing to win the final game against BYU to take the title. He retired after losing to BYU, but he was not clear why. He later said, "I just did. No 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."[3]

BYU rivalry

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See also: BYU–Utah rivalry and Holy War (BYU–Utah)

During the BYU game in 1977, BYU head coach LaVell Edwards put starting quarterback Marc Wilson back into the game with two minutes remaining so that Wilson could set a then NCAA record for 571 passing yards in a game. BYU won 38–8. After the game, Howard said, "This today will be inspiring. The hatred between BYU and Utah is nothing compared to what it will be. It will be a crusade to beat BYU from now on. This is a prediction: in the next two years Utah will drill BYU someday, but we won’t run up the score even if we could set an NCAA record against them." The next year Howard made good on his promise, upsetting BYU 23–22.[4]

In an interview after retiring, Howard hinted that he did not like aspects of the BYU rivalry. "There's too much religion involved," he said referring to the fact that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owns BYU, and many fans of the two schools inject religion into the rivalry. "I did not like that. I really didn't.[3]

Head coaching record

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College

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Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
UC Riverside Highlanders (California Collegiate Athletic Association) (1972–1973)
1972 UC Riverside 9–1 3–0 1st
1973 UC Riverside 8–2 3–1 2nd
UC Riverside: 17–3 5–1
Long Beach State 49ers (Pacific Coast Athletic Association) (1974–1976)
1974 Long Beach State 6–5 1–3 T–4th
1975 Long Beach State 9–2 4–1 2nd
1976 Long Beach State 8–3 2–2 3rd
Long Beach State: 23–10 7–6
Utah Utes (Western Athletic Conference) (1977–1981)
1977 Utah 3–8 2–5 T–6th
1978 Utah 8–3 4–2 T–2nd
1979 Utah 6–6 5–2 2nd
1980 Utah 5–5–1 2–3–1 7th
1981 Utah 8–2–1 4–1–1 T–3rd
Utah: 30–24–2 17–13–2
Total: 70–37–2
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

[5]

Junior college football

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Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Gavilan Rams (Coast Conference) (1966–1971)
1966 Gavilan 2–7 2–5 T–5th
1967 Gavilan 5–4 4–4 T–4th
1968 Gavilan 8–1 4–1 T–1st
1969 Gavilan 6–3 3–2 3rd
1970 Gavilan 9–1 5–0 2nd L California JC small division semifinal
1971 Gavilan 7–2 4–1 2nd
Gavilan: 37–18 22–13
Long Beach Vikings (Metropolitan Conference) (1982–1983)
1982 Long Beach 4–5–1
1983 Long Beach 5–5 3–2 T–2nd
Long Beach: 9–10–1
Total: 46–28–1
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

References

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  1. ^ "Wayne Howard, U.R. alumni, named UCR head grid coach". Redlands Daily Facts. Redlands, California. March 29, 1972. p. 15. Retrieved September 18, 2022 – via Newspapers.com Open access icon.
  2. ^ "Utah Coaching Records". www.cfbdatawarehouse.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
  3. ^ a b Lee Benson. "Wayne Howard Leaves 'em Wondering". Deseret News. Retrieved May 21, 2008.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ John Henderson (November 21, 2008). "Holy War rages on . . . in Utah". The Denver Post. Retrieved May 16, 2009.
  5. ^ "Wayne Howard Records by Year". www.cfbdatawarehouse.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
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