Warren East Athletic Director Jonathan Vincent has announced that Logan County High School Athletic Director Greg Howard has been named 4th Region Athletic Director of the Year. This was voted on by all the AD's in the 4th Region and he was presented the award at the Policy Board meeting. He will also be recognized at the State AD Conference in Louisville in April.
Vincent, who is state president of the athletic directors association, says, “Greg is an asset to Logan County and the 4th Region schools. His passion for Logan County athletics and 4th Region athletics is obvious and is appreciated by all involved. He is very deserving of this award and we were honored to award him with it. Congratulations on such a respected AD representing Logan County.”
Howard began his local coaching and teaching at Chandlers Middle School in the mid-90s. He started coaching at LCHS in the fall of 1996 as the top assistant to basketball coach Ray Maggard. Their first two teams went to region, reaching the 1998 finals. After Maggard’s departure, he served as an assistant under Mike Haynes.
He left LCHS to be head girls basketball coach at Todd Central in 2001-2. The following summer he left Todd to become head girls coach at Franklin-Simpson, but he never coached for the Lady Cats. He opted instead to return to LCHS as Haynes’ assistant again. It was clear that Haynes had made him a promise.
A year later, Haynes gave up coaching the boys, and Greg Howard was the head coach of the Cougars. He held that position for three seasons.
All along the way, Howard has coached boys and girls track and boys and girls cross country. The track teams are highly competitive in the state’s largest classification. He developed the cross country program into a regional champion, and built the region’s best cross country track in the field that now houses the new Career & Technology Center.
When Hugh McReynolds retired after a long tenure as LCHS athletic director, Greg Howard decided to postpone his own retirement and applied for the athletic director’s position, He was the committee’s choice for the job in May 2015, and—with the help of the administration, the school board and boosters—the results have been impressive.
They include the following:
*A much needed concession stand at the football stadium.
*Lighted courts at the tennis venue.
*Irrigated the football playing field, softball, baseball, and the practice football fields.
*Installed Bermuda on the softball and baseball fields as well as the new practice football field.
*The main gym has been renovated with new paint, lighted backboards, new wall padding, video board, and team banners.
*In process of building a 27,000 sq. foot indoor facility
*In process of putting in a track and soccer facility
*Hope to irrigate and seed new soccer practice fields
*Hope to build a practice band field
*Discussion is underway about building a new cross country course
He also was a part of the hiring process for his successor in coaching cross country one of his former standout runners, Joe Dan Laster, and one his former basketball players, Todd Adler, as football coach.
The Adler story is well known. In his first season, he coached the Cougars to their first victory in four seasons and then coached them to an undefeated regular season this year and a playoff win. He has been named state Coach of the Year and the Cougars Team of the Year.
LCHS Principal Caycee Spears says, “Coach Howard was selected for not only his forward thinking and tireless work in providing the best opportunities for the student-athletes at LCHS, but for positively representing the entire school and ultimately the community at large. His dedication and efforts are commendable.
“Coach Howard is passionate about doing what is best for students and his energy is contagious. He continually looks to move our extracurricular programs forward, providing our students more opportunities at every turn.”
Greg Howard tells The LoJo:
“Obviously this honor wouldn’t be possible without the efforts of so many people. Our administration at LCHS, our superintendent, our board members, coaches, athletes, cafeteria workers, maintenance department, transportation, custodians, our boosters and, of course, so many sponsors are all involved in this.
“Most importantly is my wife Gayle and family. They understood my dreams of helping make athletics a better place for all involved. They have been supportive of me and the hours that are required to do this job right.”
Howard continues, “I knew going in to this great opportunity, it would be one of a lifetime. Over 40 years of playing and coaching have helped me transition into this position. Coaching has grounded me with handling situations and people along the way. Working with our coaches has been a blessing. We sat down day one and talked about where we needed to be, and now we are moving towards that.
“Bottom line for us is that we must always give our best effort for our kids. Find ways to support them to be the best they can be, whether in a sport or in life. WE have to give our best effort, our kids deserve it. I have always been driven by the saying “you only get one chance to do a job right” and that’s what drives me. All of us working for the best interest of our kids is what it’s all about.”