When speaking with Gerrett ‘Jett’ Howard one thing is obvious.
Blytheville High School hired more than a football coach when it selected the 2008 alumnus to fill the head coach’s role.
Make no mistake, he knows the game of football – inside, out, forward, back.
Howard was a stalwart multi-sport athlete in his high school days and parlayed that talent into a football scholarship to the University of Tennessee-Martin.
Yet, football seems secondary to what he considers his priority when it comes to being the ‘Jett’ that fires this engine.
“It’s bigger than ball,” Howard says emphatically. “These kids’ lives are more important than winning games.
“My number one priority is developing good young men,” he continues. “Be the best son, best student. And grow to be the best father, the best husband and the best community member.”
How do you plan to do that?
“Really it’s God’s plan,” replied Howard who throughout the conversation emphasized his faith. “He led me here and I know He’s not done with me.”
Howard’s been doing “little things” as he calls it. The coach holds Team Church bi-weekly, encouraging his players to attend church together with him leading the way. There’s community service activities as well. On this day, he’s secured enough volunteers from the team to assist in unloading boxes upon boxes of books at the Blytheville Primary School.
“We want the community to see the Blytheville football program in a different light,” he said. “We’ve been doing things like this all summer long and each time these kids have answered the call.”
Similarly, Howard answered the call when God led him and wife Dericka to return to Blytheville from Illinois in 2016.
“In everything I do, you’ll see it in me,” he said referring to his relationship with God. “I don’t push my faith on anyone but if others can witness the relationship I have with Him, maybe they’ll seek Him too.”
Football seemed the furthest from Howard’s mind when he relocated here. He chose to pursue a career in firefighting and landed a job with the Blytheville Fire Department in 2017.
Football? Firefighting? Seems to be no correlation between the two. Wait though, Howard draws a pretty good comparison.
“Game time or when the fire call comes in,” he explains, “your heart kinda drops, adrenalin flows and you know it’s go time.
“Preparation is key” adds the head coach. “You have to be in top physical condition to perform. Game plan for both, too.”
And for three-plus years, Howard worked for the fire department but a chance meeting with a troubled youth carved a different path for him.
Howard befriended the boy at a community event and as much as he tried to encourage the kid to get back on the right track, he chose not to press matters as not to “mess up the vibe we had going.” But six months later, Howard learned the boy had been killed.
“Right there, I knew I had to do something more,” he explained. “Make no mistake, firefighting is important but that incident drove me toward the school system.
“I realize I can’t help everyone,” Howard admitted, “but maybe I can help one and that one might help two…”
And Howard returned to his high school alma mater as an English teacher and assistant football coach. He spent year one on Greg Ruffin’s staff and year two as defensive coordinator for Ben Fisher.
And though it wasn’t his plan to be a head coach this soon in his career, Fisher’s departure accelerated the Jett’s move to head coach.
“Yeah, it came at me pretty fast,” he said. “I heard that there was a lot of community support for me to be head coach but I still wasn’t convinced it was my time.”
When offered the job on a Friday, Howard requested some time to mull his decision. He discussed with his wife, mentors and even players. And most importantly, “I prayed about it.”
“I not only wanted it to be the best for me, but the best for the players, too.”
And after seeking that counsel, Howard accepted the offer three days later.
Howard seemed to be behind the eight ball at the get go, but a cohesive and supportive staff has put the team in a position to succeed.
Howard and assistant coach Elroy Brown, Jr., his brother, both veterans of the college game and its structured regimen, chose to pattern their program as a college team.
“You see Georgia’s, Alabama’s and Clemson’s success and they do so patterning their programs after professionals,” he explained. “So we want our high school squad to operate like a college team.”
Everything’s scripted, according to Howard, “right down to the second.”
“We want their day filled with school, football,” he explained. “Practice is structured so there is no wasted time and it’s efficient as possible.
“We’re just trying to rebuild the foundation and develop a good program.”
Howard’s day seems quite filled, too, considering his responsibilities as a husband, father, teacher and coach.
The father of five to Peyton, 12, Yahkim, 9, Ty’riq, 8, Ziyah, 5, and Alayah, 1, Howard manages to balance it all attributing much to his wife and a strong support system.
As his days keep him surrounded with kids, the players seem to be buying his message of comradery and teamwork as he lays the groundwork for success.
“We want to put them in a position to succeed but we realize it takes time to build,” he added.
Is the goal to win a conference championship, compete for a state title?
“I believe if we set those as our primary goals, we’re skipping steps,” he answered assuredly. “What our coaches and players’ goal should be is to give the max effort everyday whether it’s in the weight room, on the practice field.
“If we concentrate on that, then winning is going to happen.”
But make no mistake, Howard “wants to win”, sooner rather than later.
“I’m competitive as they come,” he said as a smile came to his face. “If I’m playing Uno with my five-year-old daughter, she’s not gonna win unless I want her to.”
Howard and his staff look to build upon 2022’s early season success when the Chicks opened the campaign winning five of their first six games. But the season went into a tailspin over the final five weeks of the season as the squad lost its last five games.
“That loss to Gosnell was deflating,” said Howard. “We kinda fizzled after that and injuries hurt, too.
“We look to maintain our edge this year,” he concluded, “and see what hap-pens.”
The Chicks played a benefit game Tuesday at West Memphis and open the season Sept. 1.