Howard alum Gary Harrell looks to reverse the Bisons downward trend

If anyone knows how far the Howard football program has fallen, its first-year Coach Gary Harrell. As a 5-foot-7 wide receiver, he helped lead the Bison to an 11-1 record and the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs in 1993. Since 1999, though, Howard has had only two winning seasons and is coming off a 2010 campaign in which a win over Division II Lincoln was its only victory.

So its no surprise that Harrell has one word on his mind: redemption.

Its not just redemption toward the other schools in our conference, its redemption for ourselves, getting back to the way we play at Howard University, getting back to our tradition, said the 39-year-old Harrell, who had a brief stint with the New York Giants. This is the job Ive been praying for, been preparing myself for, to be the head coach at Howard University, to be in charge of leading this program in a different direction.

Harrell still owns the Howard record for career receptions and is known around campus as The Flea, the nickname he earned as a player because of his size and tenacity.

Now he answers to Coach Flea.

It gives him more than enough credibility, junior linebacker Keith Pough^[1] said. He was here, he knows the ins and outs of Howard. He has walked the grounds and hes won here. Its kind of like when your grandfather walks into the house. No matter what he says, you listen just because hes lived it, hes got the experience.

Harrells first order of business after accepting the job in January was to surround himself with assistant coaches who have strong ties to the university, not those simply seeking a promotion. So he started with names already in his address book.

As a result, his staff directory reads like a whos who from the programs glory days.

Theres Ted White, Howards signal-caller in 1996, the year he led the team to a 10-2 record. Hes the new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Ray Petty returns after serving as Howards head coach from 2002 to 2006 and defensive coordinator in 1993 and 1996. Petty gave Harrell his first college coaching job, at Howard, in 2002. Harrell hired Petty as his new defensive coordinator.

Theres Ron Bolton, too. In his first stint at Howard, he helped develop current NFL players Antoine Bethea^[2] of the Indianapolis Colts and Ronald Bartell^[3] of the St. Louis Rams. Now hes coaching Howards defensive backs.

The list also includes Bobby Jones, Jonathan Brewer, Billy Jenkins and volunteers Randall White, Rudy Hardie and Vontrae Long, all of them former Bison.

He wanted to make this a family atmosphere, bring in people who genuinely loved the program, [who werent] just in it for the job, Petty said. Thats why I came back: I love Howard University.

But Howards offseason makeover didnt end with Harrells staff.

The defense, which yielded 50 or more points five times last fall, ditched the 3-4 in favor of the 4-3 alignment that Petty prefers.

Although the transformation hasnt been easy, Petty he said hes encouraged by the units performance in the spring and expects another impact performance from Pough, who led all I-AA players in tackles for a loss with 28¹/ ₂ last season.

On offense, the Bison have dropped the triple option and switched to the spread.



Harrell plans to put it all in the left hand of 6-3, 200-pound freshman Greg McGhee^[4]. Its a leap of faith, the coach concedes, but its also consistent with the long-term plan hes put into place.

Were going to grow with him, Harrell said of McGhee. Were going to do a lot of things to protect him, let him get his confidence early and then let him come into himself.

To me, hes a [mid-I-A] kid who could easily play on that level, so were blessed to have him at Howard.

McGhees primary target figures to be playmaking wide receiver Willie Carter^[5], a 6-3, 190-pound senior. Hes 66 catches short of breaking Harrells all-time career mark of 184.

At Howard, Carter has endured a pair of 1-10 seasons. But he has noticed a different vibe around Greene Stadium. The losing attitude that permeated the locker room, he said, slowly is being replaced by optimism.

Ever since Coach Flea, Coach White, Coach Petty and all them guys came back ... its not so much us buying into what theyre saying; we feel it, Carter said. One night in training camp, we had about 20 or 25 former Bison come back and talked to us about the old Howard way.

Were trying to bring back that tradition. Theres a whole lot of new energy.

Harrell, too, is bullish on the future. But hes also realistic. With Saturdays season opener at Eastern Michigan^[6] looming, the Bison are only starting to merge into the road to redemption.

I think by 2012, he said, thats when youre going to see a different team.

References

1. ^{^} Keith Pough (stats.washingtonpost.com)
2. ^{^} Antoine Bethea (stats.washingtonpost.com)
3. ^{^} Ronald Bartell (stats.washingtonpost.com)
4. ^{^} Greg McGhee (stats.washingtonpost.com)
5. ^{^} Willie Carter (stats.washingtonpost.com)
6. ^{^} Eastern Michigan (stats.washingtonpost.com)