Fayetteville State University welcomed Roderick Howard to its football coaching staff in the spring of 2025 as the Defensive Line Coach. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Howard brings a proven track record of defensive excellence, player development, and program-building success to the Broncos.
Before joining FSU, Howard served as the Defensive Line Coach at Hampton University, where he played a pivotal role in transforming the Pirates’ defense. In just two seasons, Hampton’s defense rose from 95th nationally in total defense (2023) to 22nd in the nation and 1st in the CAA (2024). Under his leadership, the team also:
- Improved from #113 to #20 nationally in 3rd down defense
- Jumped from 10 to 31 total sacks, ranking #11 in FCS
- Elevated from #79 to #12 nationally in takeaways
- Produced 3 defensive touchdowns, ranking #1 in the CAA
- Increased tackles for loss from 40 to 61
- Coached 3rd Team All-CAA DL Aike Nance and HBCU Freshman All-American Jahzari Priester
Prior to Hampton, Howard spent six seasons at Bluefield University, where he helped engineer a remarkable turnaround. The program, which had just five wins in the five years before his arrival, recorded over 34 wins during his tenure, including the school’s first three winning seasons. At Bluefield, he coached two All-Americans and six First Team All-Conference defensive linemen.
Howard began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at Ole Miss under special teams and linebackers coach Tom Allen. He also coached at Carver High School and Melrose High School in Memphis before joining the college ranks.
As a player, Howard holds the rare distinction of starting games at the NCAA FBS (Memphis), Division II (Harding), and NAIA (Lambuth) levels. He earned a starting role on the defensive line as a freshman at Lambuth and played under Coach Justin Fuente at Memphis.
A 2009 graduate of Kingsbury High School in Memphis, Howard earned All-Conference and All-Metro honors as a fullback and linebacker. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Memphis (2014) and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Bluefield (2021).
