'He's a self-made guy': Will Howard went from three-star recruit to top transfer QB

In a high school gymnasium in a suburb of Philadelphia, Will Howard threw passes in front of visiting college coaches.

It was January 2019 and Howard, then a junior at Downingtown West High School, was looking to make an impression.

He had missed the last half of the previous season after breaking an arm, a setback that stalled his recruitment. Opportunities to stand out on Friday nights and add to his highlight tape vanished.

That led Mike Milano, the Whippets’ longtime coach, to stage throwing sessions in the gym in the middle of winter as a sort of audition. Not long after Howard’s cast was off, he was hurling balls.

“It’s almost insane when you try to explain to folks,” Milano said. “I got a 17-year-old, and I’m pulling him out first-period class to come down to the gym to warm up real quick so some coach from Minnesota or Wisconsin or Maryland or Boston College can watch him throw the ball for 15 minutes. It was pretty crazy.”

But those early mornings five years ago gave staffs at least a glimpse of the quarterback with big aspirations. They were up close to see him zipping passes with velocity.

“If you’ve been around throwers,” Milano said, “you can hear it.”

Scholarship offers followed later that year as Howard emerged as a bona fide prospect.

Howard’s climb continued last month. After four seasons at Kansas State, he announced he would transfer to Ohio State for his final year of eligibility.

It’s a career path that has veered from the typical track for a Buckeyes passer. Unlike his predecessors at the position, he was not a blue-chip recruit out of high school, ranked as a three-star prospect and needed several years to grow into a signal caller who could reach this stage.

“He’s a self-made guy,” said Collin Klein, the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Texas A&M who had previously been in the same role with Kansas State.

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The Wildcats were not among the staffs to visit Downingtown in the winter five years ago. It was a few months later when Klein stopped by in the spring to see Howard at a practice.

Klein said he saw the 6-foot-5 Howard as a “big, long athlete who spun it really well.”

However, the interest came from Howard at first. He was a fan of Carson Wentz, then an up-and-coming quarterback with the Philadelphia Eagles, and knew Wentz had been coached at North Dakota State by Chris Klieman. Klieman left that year for Kansas State, spurring Howard to email his highlights and information to the Wildcats staff.

That eventually led to Howard's commitment, and he was thrown into the fire as a freshman in 2020, a season that was already disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. Spring practice was called off, providing little acclimation. Positive tests for COVID-19 and quarantine through contact tracing left a disjointed supporting cast around him. It made for a short runway for takeoff.

“He kind of struggled a little bit early,” Klein said, “and wasn’t quite ready and had to go back to work and prepare and get better.”

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Howard completed 53.6% of his passes for 1,178 yards with eight touchdowns and 10 interceptions in his first season as a starter, but the experience molded him.

“He grew from it,” Milano said. “It hardened him.”

Over the following years – he would end up making 27 starts for the Wildcats – Howard made his biggest strides as a passer. He had been a two-sport athlete in high school, playing basketball in the winter, participation that added to his competitiveness and fostered athleticism but took him away from football for a few months.

“Being solely a football player,” Klein said, “and not basketball and everything else he was doing really helped him to build the confidence to put the ball right where he wanted it.”

Over his last two seasons with the Wildcats, he was more polished and precise from the pocket, completing 61% of his passes for 4,276 yards with 39 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

Howard helped lead the team to the Big 12 championship in 2022 as he reclaimed the starting quarterback job from Adrian Martinez, who had transferred from Nebraska and began the year at the top of the depth chart.

“That was adversity,” Milano said, “and he looked it in the eye and competed.”

After he entered the transfer portal in November, Howard was considered one of the top available veteran quarterbacks.

Along with Ohio State, he drew interest from Southern California and visited the school last month. Lincoln Riley, the Trojans’ coach, has built a quarterback factory between USC and Oklahoma, mentoring three Heisman Trophy winners.

The pursuit by programs with such pedigrees at the position was the latest sign of how much Howard had progressed over the years.

“Quarterback’s a developmental position,” Klein said. “It doesn’t matter where or how highly recruited you are or not. What work do you do? How do you work? How do you improve? How do you build the skills necessary to play the position at the level that maxes at your potential? Will’s a living example of just truly getting better every single year.”

Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch and can be reached at jkaufman@dispatch.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State transfer QB Will Howard developed from three-star recruit