Football

Gerald Howse was recently added to the Tennessee Tech football coaching staff, serving as running backs coach and assistant special teams coordinator.

Howse, most recently with Northwestern State, oversaw a rushing attack that ran for 2,700 yards and 20 touchdowns over two seasons, breaking 14 school records in the process.

"Gerald played right here in Middle Tennessee at Siegel High School," Alexander said. "He was an outstanding player there and was an outstanding player at Northeast Oklahoma and was a team captain there. He then went to Georgia State and was a team captain, so that lets you know the type of character he has.

"He's coached FCS football at Northwestern State as the running backs coach. He's a young coach of character, but he's also played the position at a high level, both junior college and collegiately. He's a great recruiter and we're glad to have him back this way with his Murfreesboro ties."

Howse will coach the running backs and share the special teams coordinator duties with nickels coach Chris Grimes.

"Gerald's going to handle a couple of phases of the offensive return game, while Chris is going to handle punt team, punt block team and things like that," Alexander said.

Collegiately, Howse played two seasons at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, where he was a first-team all-conference selection, then moved on to the NCAA Division I level with two seasons at Georgia State. After earning his bachelor's degree in sociology from GSU, he earned his master's degree in sports administration.

Howse spent a year at Oklahoma Baptist, coaching the running backs and tight ends from July 2015 to June 2016. He left to take the same position at his JUCO alma mater, Northeast Oklahoma A&M. While there, he coached two All-Americans who went on to NFL careers with Darwin Thompson (Kansas City Chiefs) and Jace Sternberger (Green Bay Packers). Howse was also named the NJCAA Top Assistant Coach in 2017.