I admit that I am very biased, as Howell is a close friend of mine, but I don't get it either. He has done a great job this year, and literally almost every other season except for last year. That being said, he is incredibly dedicated to BYU, and could easily have landed other big jobs both after this last season and before last season. He has been offered head coaching jobs at other schools, but loves working under Coach Mendenhall and bringing players into the BYU program. It is crazy to think that one should bring in Brian Logan, just because he was a good player. His players have always performed well, and his recruiting has been some of the best out of all the coaches. Talk to Burt, Lake, and several of the recent players that he has recruited and coached, and nearly all of them will defend him against the criticism. Last year we had a few bad apples, that may have been talented, but their egos hurt both them and the team. While it may have hurt a bit to lose one of them to USU, it has turned out to be big in the long run.
To those that don't know his background, he has been being prepared to be a coach since the day he was born. His brothers are also coaches.(he was offered a scholarship out of high school to play at USU, along with several other players on his team including Emmit White, but unfortunately had several concussions that ended his playing career early.) Howell's dad, was a long time coach at Ben Lomand(multiple sports) prior to Nick taking the job. He was also the AD there, and helped Nick form a ton of relationships with a lot of the Northern Utah schools. His dad is really respected in the area, as a former bishop, coach, and all around good person; and Nick is thought of in the same mold up here. Some of the long time coaches and athletic directors at the schools he recruits, have known Nick since he was a young child. He is able to get into a lot of homes and coach's offices, that other recruiters would not. For those that try and attack his personality, you obviously don't know him. He may come across serious and intense on television or in interviews, but that is not who he is away from the field or with his players. Like Coach Mendenhall, he demands a lot out of his players, and he demands that they respects the coaches and respect themselves. Also like Coach Mendenhall, he is a lot more laid back that what you may think if you don't know him or are not around the team, and I literally do not know a single person that does not like him.(I have known him since he was 5 years old, and went to school with him in the Weber County school district before he transferred to Ben Lomand in 9th grade,to play for his dad with a lot of our friends) He will be the first to say that he was not perfect last year, and I promise that he is harder on himself that any of you could ever be; but the man is a hard worker and great asset to BYU.