Wayne Howard (American football)

Wayne Howard (born April 30, 1931) is a former American football coach. He was head coach at UC Riverside from 1972 to 1973, Long Beach State from 1974 to 1976 and Utah from 1977 to 1981. He had a career college football record of 70–37–2.

Wayne Howard
Biographical details
Born (1931-04-30) April 30, 1931
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1972–1973UC Riverside
1974–1976Long Beach State
1977–1981Utah
1982–1983Long Beach CC
Head coaching record
Overall70–37–2 (college)

Coaching career

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).[1]

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."[2]

BYU rivalry
See also: BYU–Utah rivalry and Holy War (BYU vs. 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.[3]

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.[2]

Head coaching record

College
Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
UC Riverside Highlanders (California Collegiate Athletic Association) (1972–1973)
1972 UC Riverside 9–13–01st
1973 UC Riverside 8–23–12nd
UC Riverside: 17–35–1
Long Beach State 49ers (Pacific Coast Athletic Association) (1974–1976)
1974 Long Beach State 6–51–3T–4th
1975 Long Beach State 9–24–12nd
1976 Long Beach State 8–32–23rd
Long Beach State: 23–107–6
Utah Utes (Western Athletic Conference) (1977–1981)
1977 Utah 3–82–5T–6th
1978 Utah 8–34–2T–2nd
1979 Utah 6–65–22nd
1980 Utah 5–5–12–3–17th
1981 Utah 8–2–14–1–14th
Utah: 30–24–217–13–2
Total:70–37–2
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

[4]

References
  1. "Utah Coaching Records". www.cfbdatawarehouse.com. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
  2. Lee Benson. "Wayne Howard Leaves 'em Wondering". Deseret News. Retrieved May 21, 2008.
  3. John Henderson (November 21, 2008). "Holy War rages on . . . in Utah". The Denver Post. Retrieved May 16, 2009.
  4. "Wayne Howard Records by Year". www.cfbdatawarehouse.com. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
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