Dean Howell is back coaching a lot sooner than he thought.
At the end of 2020, Howell announced he would be resigning after eight seasons as the head football coach and athletics director at White Knoll High School to spend more time with his family.
But Northside Christian Academy, where Howell's kids attend and where Howell and his family attend church, reached out to gauge Howell's interest in leading their program and Howell accepted the school's offer to take over for the program.
Before taking over at White Knoll, the longtime Midlands coach was in charge of the A.C. Flora program. He has also been an assistant at Richland Northeast and Brookland-Cayce.
He is a former assistant coach for the North-South All-Star Game and was chosen to be an assistant for the 2020 Shrine Bowl which was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Northside Christian Academy is in the SCISA ranks and last season competed in 8-man football but is set to return to 11-man competition.