Wrestling and golf head coach Mike Howard continues a family legacy planted, nurtured and grown at SUNY Oswego
By Tom and Jerry Caraccioli
It’s oft been said that a legacy can be built by writing a book, planting a tree or having a family.
For many coaches, years seem to stack up as the teams and players they once guided become memorable facts and figures of the school’s athletic history. Their names become synonymous with what was once a “team” but has now been built into a “program.”
But that coach’s legacy is not for them to determine.
For more than six decades, the name “Howard” and SUNY Oswego Wrestling have been conjoined. Today, a legacy of that name and program has been firmly planted with a coaching tree that has been rooted within a family. Since 1962 to the present, a Howard has manned the helm of the Oswego State wrestling program.
Current head coach Mike Howard has led Oswego for the past 37 seasons, after inheriting the job from his father, Jim Sr., who was head coach for the previous 27 years.
“I grew up in a coaching and athletic family,” Howard explained. “My dad coached at SUNY Oswego for 27 years. My brothers and I grew up in a household where athletics were pretty much an everyday routine. We were always around sports. My dad coached baseball, track and field and was a football assistant when the school had football. My brothers and I were exposed to all of that. That led us to playground ball, playing minor hockey in Oswego and lots of different activities. My brother, Mark, and I ended up wrestling in high school and that carried over into college.”
Because of that experience, the family coaching tree was planted early in their lives. Despite earning a degree in history, Howard always knew he wanted to coach. He spent two years at the University of Buffalo before transferring and returning home to wrestle his final years of eligibility for his dad at Oswego, then spent three more years as an assistant to his father before taking over the head job in 1989-90.
“When my eligibility was over, I wanted to continue to help out so I went to practice every day,” Howard explained. “That led to a part-time assistant coach position for three years. I transitioned to the head coach after my dad retired. He stayed on a year as an associate head coach to make sure the transition went well, which it did. At that time, it was a part-time position, so I coached and worked another job for 10 years.”
For the past four decades, Mike Howard has been one of the longest-tenured employees at Oswego State. “This is my 37th year as head coach and 40th year on campus,” Howard incredulously said. “Obviously, the continuity helps when it comes to our alumni base. We’ve been very fortunate to have a strong alumni base and a lot of that is due to the continuity of leadership. The alumni and administration have been wonderful to me and the program with support and any way we need it. It’s been great to be part of.”
During his coaching career, Howard has guided 20 All-Americans, 18 NWCA Academic All-Americans, had 65 NCAA qualifiers, 21 individual conference champions, 96 New York State Collegiate Championship place winners and five ECWC Most Outstanding Wrestlers.
Along the way, Mike Howard, with his “lifetime assistant coach” Su-Ann Akley Howard, have raised a family of athletes and continued adding branches to the family coaching tree. Their daughter, Britt Howard, was a former standout lacrosse player and USACOLLEGELACROSSE.com All-American Honorable Mention at Limestone College (Gaffney, South Carolina) and now the SUNY Oswego women’s lacrosse head coach. Mike Jr. was a former NWCA Division III Scholar All American under his father’s tutelage at Oswego State, and Matt was the captain of the men’s lacrosse team at Plattsburgh State which won its first and only SUNYAC lacrosse title and NCAA appearance during his senior year.
But the Howard family is not just about wrestling and lacrosse as they have a continued connection to other sports as well. Mike’s nephew, Jimmy III, son of former Oswego Lakers hockey pioneer Jim Howard, Jr., was a member of the Stanley Cup-winning Detroit Red Wings during a 14-year career in which he was a standout goaltender in the Motor City.
“Not many wrestling coaches can say they’ve hoisted the Stanley Cup,” Howard laughingly acknowledged. “We had that opportunity and it was a fun experience. My nephew, Jimmy, playing in the NHL was obviously a great experience for everybody. As a family we always rallied around athletic competition. Supporting one another throughout their athletic journeys has been rewarding.
“My own kids had the opportunity to participate in the college sports they chose. My daughter is the head coach of women’s lacrosse at Oswego. One of the proudest moments I’ve had here at Oswego, outside of my own team, is watching her team win their first SUNYAC title last year and advance to the NCAA championship tournament for the first time in the program’s history. Watching her achieve some of her goals and develop her program has been pretty cool to see.”
But what about future aspirations and goals for the wrestling coach and his team?
“Well, I’m a lot like Pete Sears,” Howard humbly said while also acknowledging his 32 years as the Lakers golf coach. “I don’t want a lot for myself. I want to see the guys achieve their goals and reach their full potential athletically and academically. I hope they will go on to be model citizens of their communities, good fathers and husbands and employees. The biggest joy I get is when former athletes reach out and check in to see how the program and I are doing.”
When that happens, you know you’ve made an impact in somebody’s life along the way and a legacy has been secured.
Tom and Jerry Caraccioli are freelance writers originally from Oswego, who have co-authored three books: “Striking Silver: The Untold Story of America’s Forgotten Hockey Team,” BOYCOTT: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games” and “Ice Breakers: A Kid’s Guide to Hockey and the Greatest Players Who Changed the Game.” They also host a monthly television and multi-platform segment on WSYR-Channel 9 (ABC) on its “Bridge Street” show called “Backroads to Bridge Street with Tom & Jerry.”
