New Penn State assistant coach Ty Howle saw the program stay together following 2012 NCAA sanctions

Howle loved the way his teammates bonded to keep the program together following the sanctions, and appreciates how the Nittany Lions have returned to national prominence since then.

Penn State center Ty Howle (right) with freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg in 2013.Read more

by Joe Juliano

Published Feb. 23, 2021, 4:53 p.m. ET

Now a member of the coaching staff at his alma mater, former Penn State offensive lineman Ty Howle can look back on when the Nittany Lions were at their lowest point — the 2012 NCAA sanctions — and appreciate seeing how they have recovered be a leading national program once again.

“We had our players’ backs, our coaches’ backs, so it was a neat time to just kind of see that bond of a team come together,” Howle said Tuesday in his first Zoom interview with the media as Penn State’s tight ends coach. “I think that was ultimately a little bit of why there was so much support when I got the job, and those guys reaching out, because we were so close.

“Obviously unprecedented times can really bring people together. I think the biggest thing is we wanted to play for Penn State. You talk to anybody who played on those teams, we loved this place. So it was a really, really neat experience as far as from a team bonding those couple of years.”

The NCAA imposed sanctions on the program related to the child sex-abuse scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. The association ruled that Penn State players could transfer to another school without penalty, but strong senior class leadership kept the defections to a minimum.

Howle started at center and guard under then-head coach Bill O’Brien in 2012 and 2013, his last two seasons. James Franklin succeeded O’Brien in 2014 and Howle said he took pride in watching Penn State no matter where his travels as a new college coach took him.

“Obviously, the job Coach Franklin and the staff was doing from ’14 on, they did an unbelievable job really bringing Penn State back to national prominence,” he said. “So it was fun to watch from afar and now obviously it’s fun to be a part of what’s going on and I’m excited for the future.”

Howle, a four-year letter winner and a four-time Academic All-Big Ten player, spent two years as a graduate assistant at North Carolina State after leaving the Nittany Lions. He then coached at Western Illinois for four seasons, the first two as offensive line coach, the last two as co-offensive coordinator and assistant head coach.

Howle returned to Penn State last year as an offensive analyst, and was named tight ends coach on Feb. 5 after the departure of Tyler Bowen to Urban Meyer’s staff with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.

“When I got back into [coaching], this was my ultimate goal, to get back to a place that gave me so much,” Howle said. “This is home for me. Going into last year, I wanted to prepare myself for this opportunity. I didn’t see it coming this quickly. I tried to prepare every day like I was one of the position coaches. I think that helped me to succeed and get the tight ends job here.

“I love this place more than anything. I had a great career here and made lifelong friends and got a degree. I owe this place so much. I hope through my coaching I can give back to this university. It’s always been a dream of mine. I wake up every morning and pinch myself.”

Howle, who is from Bunn, N.C., played for his father, David, at Bunn High School and got the coaching bug from him. He said he learned at Penn State from O’Brien and his offensive line coach, Mac McWhorter, about what it would take to be a good coach.

“Across the board, every coach that I played for, I tried to pick up little things,” he said. “Every coach that I’ve worked for moving forward, I’m trying to pick up a couple of things that I could learn from.

“But I’d say that’s kind of the big one that stuck with me was when I was a kid watching my dad and I saw how much fun he had with it, with coaching the players. He enjoyed the daily process, and I think that’s kind of the thing I’ve tried to take that I enjoy, too — the daily process of getting guys better.”