[ComfortEagle]

From Kentucky.com:


Dunbar hires Tates Creek assistant as head football coach
gets job five days after interview

By Mike Fields
[email]mfields@herald-leader.com[/email]


Jason Howell went from assistant football coach at Tates Creek to head coach at Paul Dunbar in less than week.

”It was quick, real quick,“ Howell said.

Howell, 35, didn't apply for the Dunbar opening after David Hensley resigned on April 22 because the job description noted head coaching experience.

But after the position stayed open for more than a month, Howell was asked to meet with Dunbar Athletic Director Mike Barren at the 11th Region baseball tournament last week.

He interviewed for the job on Thursday and was hired on Tuesday.

Compared to the usual snail's-pace hiring process in Fayette County, that's like going from zero to 60 mph in three seconds.

Howell will be Dunbar's fifth football coach since 2000. ”I do want to bring stability here,“ Howell said.

”I believe continuity and consistency are two keys to building a program. I'm not saying you don't adjust to your personnel. But you have to be consistent with discipline, your traditions and the way you handle things.

”And there has to be continuity. Everybody's got to be on the same page and believe in the system.“

Howell played on Pikeville's powerhouse teams in the late 1980s. He was an offensive lineman for Coach Hillard Howard's Class A state champs in 1988 and '89. He returned to Pikeville and became an assistant in 1996. He was there nine years before coming to Lexington to join Tates Creek's staff in 2005.

Howell described his offensive philosophy as a ”tool-box approach. I want to integrate the run and the pass. We're going to find a tool in our box that works. The more tools we have, the better off we'll be.“

Howell said it wasn't easy telling Tates Creek Coach Mike Harmon and Athletic Director Joe Ruddell that he was leaving the Commodores.

”I've always been loyal to the people I've worked for, and to leave Tates Creek this late, I almost feel like I'm walking out on them,“ he said. ”But they both told me they understand.“

With school out and summer leagues just around the corner, Howell said, he knows he's got to be a quick study as a new head coach.

”We've got to hit the ground running, and it's got to be done pretty quick,“ he said.

Dunbar went 4-8 under Hensley last fall and 1-9 the year before that.