The importance of linebacker Grayson "Pup" Howard to USF this season was underscored at last week's American Conference football kickoff. He was chosen by head coach Brian Hartline as one of two Bulls players to represent the team and meet with the media.
Howard is one of 41 players who came to USF this season through the Transfer Portal after one season at South Carolina and two at Florida. He was also one of the first players Hartline contacted after he became the Bulls' head coach.
Since arriving in January, Howard has established himself as one of the leaders in a defensive room that had only one returning starter. Earlier this year, defensive coordinator Josh Aldridge underscored his impact in the locker room.
"Man, what a great leader. Like one of the better leaders I've been around. Really neat," Aldridge said.
"Pup's like gold, what (Head Strength & Conditioning) Coach A.T. (Antonio Turner) calls the gold standard in terms of body fat percentage and his size and things like that. I mean, it's really nice to have a long linebacker like that. It creates a lot of issues out there on the hash to be 6'3 and some change,"
About that nickname, Pup....
"I got the nickname my eighth grade year, going into ninth grade. I was practicing with the high school during their spring season, and the coach at the time, Coach Smith, he said, I'm going to call you Pup because I know one day you're going to be a big dog," he said. "It's stuck ever since."
By the time he was ready to leave high school behind, he proved that coach was prophetic. His game was so advanced that 247Sports called him "a tackling machine with the mentality of an alpha."
Injuries limited him to three games last season in Gainesville, and after the coaching change for the Gators, he was ready for a fresh start. That was USF's good fortune.
After his first season with the Gators, Pro Football Focus graded him at 84.2 on run defense, which is near elite. And his aggressive, disruptive style should mesh perfectly with Aldridge's "swing first and ask questions later" approach.
Summer training camp opens on August 5 and for the first time since near the end of the 2024 season, Howard says he is completely healthy. A high ankle sprain cost him the last three games of his first year in Gainesville, and he aggravated it last summer and was never fully ready to go.
But that's all in the past, and it's time for his leadership skills to transition from the locker room to the field.
"We need to make sure that we're disciplined and that we're handling our business," he said.
When the big dog speaks, others listen.
"Under Coach Aldridge, I know that we have standards set for this defense that includes relentless effort, violent tackling, and elite mental execution," he said on the set of ESPN+,
"So just day in and day out, we train that and looking forward to being able to showcase that with not only myself but this whole defense. I think that will be a fun defense to watch. I think that will be, you know, very effective. And I'm excited to see that this come fall."
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