Men's Golf
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- jhowell@ia.ua.edu
- Phone:
- 205-348-0383
Jon Howell, considered one of the top assistants in collegiate golf, begins his fourth season as assistant men’s golf coach at The University of Alabama in 2017-18.
Howell has made an immediate impact during his previous three seasons at the Capstone, both on and off the course. Most recently, Howell played an integral part in helping the Tide land the top-ranked recruiting class in the nation in 2017. Among the signees were two of the top five junior golfers in the country in Davis Shore and Wilson Furr – both of which competed on the 2016 Junior Ryder Cup team.
In addition to this year's stellar signing class, Howell also played a role in the recruitment of current Alabama golfers Davis Riley, Lee Hodges and Josh Sedeno, among others. Both Hodges and Riley were named PING All-District honorees this past year, while Riley earned a spot on the All-SEC team for the second straight season.
On the course, Howell helped Alabama reach the NCAA Championships in consecutive years (2016 and 2017). This past year, the Crimson Tide finished third in the Washington Regional to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships where Alabama placed 17th – the Tide's best finish at nationals since 2014.
In 2015-16, Howell helped head coach Jay Seawell guide Alabama to four tournament victories, a third-place finish in the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional and reach the NCAA National Championships, as the Tide finished the year ranked as high as No. 13 in the nation.
Alongside Seawell, Howell coached All-Americans Robby Shelton (first team) and Riley (honorable mention), who each earned honors from PING and Golfweek in 2016. Riley became the first Alabama freshman to earn All-American honors since Shelton did so in 2014. In addition, Shelton, Riley and Tom Lovelady each earned first team All-District honors during the 2015-16 campaign.
Off the course, Howell has thrived in his duties as Director of the Alabama Golf Academy and the Crimson Tide Open. He also oversees alumni relations for the men's golf program.
In addition, his other coaching duties for the Crimson Tide include assisting Seawell in day-to-day operations of the program while also serving as the recruiting coordinator and assisting in player development.
“It's been great having Jon on board,” Seawell said. “He has done a fabulous job of developing and teaching young players as a PGA Professional. Jon is extremely valuable to our current players from an instruction standpoint and is a tremendous benefit on the recruiting trail as someone who really understands junior golf.”
Howell came to Tuscaloosa after serving nearly four years as the director of golf instruction at the Country Club of Jackson (Miss.), where he had a track record for developing some of the top junior players in the nation.
A member of the PGA of America, Howell attended Mississippi State’s professional golf management program, graduating in 2010.
When he was hired, Howell became the fourth assistant coach in as many years for the Crimson Tide with each prior assistant landing a head coaching job. Former Tide assistant Mike McGraw replaced Roby Bradley, who was named the head coach at Purdue following the Crimson Tide’s 2013 NCAA Championship victory. Bradley had replaced Scott Limbaugh, who took over the Vanderbilt program in the summer of 2012, after Alabama’s NCAA runner-up finish.
Howell is married to the former Kay Nobles and the couple has a daughter, Sadie.
