Jim Howson

[Chris Plante Fan]

Jim Howson, the once great Hatton Flyer coach, is now the assistant coach for the Larimore Polar Bears.  He has been run out of Hatton twice now, but did he deserve to be run out either time?  He has won over 700 games, but is he a coach truly deserving of his accolades?  What is Jim Howson really like?

[rep]

i can't speak for basketball, and that might sort of disqualify my statements, but howson was the offensive line coach at mayville state for one of the years i was there. in the time i was around him i really liked him.

his approach was so simple it was genius, 'adapt your coaching philosophy to your kids' strengths.' and he was flexible enough as a coach to adapt. let's be serious here, it was mayville state, it isn't like we had all-american players lining up at every position, but with howson i felt like he had crafted a philosphy that fit me.

also, as a person outside of practice he always took time to talk and invited the offensive lineman out to his place for steaks. grilled em up how everyone liked them...that in itself made it pretty hard for me not to like him.

personally i guess, i really enjoyed the brief time i spent with him.

however, while there i also saw personality conflicts between him and other coaches. at one point howson went behind the offensive coordinators back and called a play...kind of upset the offensive coordinator, espcially when the play he didn't call went for a 60-plus yard touchdown.

that said, i thought the offensive coordinator was a moron, so i would have gone to bat for howson any day of the week.

[Chris Plante Fan]

Yeah, he was always like that to me, also, but he is a different guy when he isn't the one who is being blamed for everything.  As the head basketball coach, I saw him throw everyone and anyone else under the bus for things that were clearly his fault.  Also, the thing you said about his changing his style to adapt to his players is something I never thought I would hear said about him.  To me, he seemed like no matter what the situation, he was going to do things his way.  If they didn't work, it was everyone else's fault.  No skin off his back, he "has 700 wins".

[rep]

could be, maybe in the brief time i spent with him the new hadn't worn off the job yet? or maybe he takes 'his way' in basketball more serious than in football? or it could have been the difference of working with a high school student versus a college student?

or i could be way off base, too, by no means take my word as the gospel beginning and the end.

number of different things that make me say, i'm not sure i guess.

 

[Chris Plante Fan]

Yeah, I can't remember how long he was at Mayville State, so it could very well be that the new hadn't worn off yet.  When he came back to Hatton, he was really comfortable because he had already coached there for, I think, a million years. 

[Flyer]

I played basketball for him and watched him coach at practice many years when I was growing up in Hatton. He gets you to work and is a motivator. If you are a soft player you won't like him, but I would not like you either. I feel he always got the most out of his players and if they were not performing they would be sitting by him. Jim is a great guy that would do anything for his players. He is well deserving of each one of his wins!! The Hatton Flyers never made it to state, but look at the competion they had to go against. Some of the best teams in North Dakota history have played in the same district as Hatton. (May-Port (CG), Hillsboro, Central Valley (state champs in 1991 or something like that)..Hatton has been in the regional championship many times against these teams that have won state. He and his players could not win the big one to get there. I feel his strategies were always well thought out and he let the players decide the game with their performance.. 

[PA42]