This past season the Cardinals won a school record 28 games while becoming the first Skagit Men’s basketball team to go undefeated in region play with a 14-0 record winning the North region Championship and advancing to the NWAC Sweet 16. The Cards were the NWAC’s #1 ranked team for the final 8 weeks of the season. Howell was also named NWAC North Coach of the year. In 2023-24 the Cardinals won 26 games and advanced to the NWAC Tournament Final 4 in addition the Cards started the season 17-0 and were the NWAC’s number 1 ranked team for 8 weeks. Since Howell arrived the Cardinals have the 2nd most wins in NWAC the last 5 years with 99 in 4 full seasons & a reduced Covid season . On November 20th Howell won his 400th game in just the 2nd game of his 18th season to join a select few Washington Men's basketball college coaches to win 400 games. In Howell's first season the Cards won a school record regular season 25 games in Carl Howell's first season back at his alma mater, The Cardinals earned their first post season berth in 6 years but, due to the Covid 19 virus the NWAC tournament was canceled. The Cardinals won a school record 22 straight games to start the season and were the #1 ranked team in the NWAC for 8 straight weeks. Howell was named Just-Play-Solutions National junior college coach of the week in January 2020. Carl Howell was named Head Men’s Basketball coach on July 22, 2019. Howell's career record is 490-147 ( 77.7 % ) in 21 seasons. When he left Tacoma Community College in 2013, His winning percentage was second only to Gonzaga's Mark Few among Northwest Men's Basketball Coaches at 77.5%. On May 30th 2013 Howell’s 2002 NWAC Championship team were inducted into the NWAC Hall of Fame. His 2012-13 team finished 21-9 and reached the NWAC Elite 8 for a NWAC record 10th consecutive season under Howell. The 21 wins also marked the 11th straight season his Titans won 21 games or more. On January 8th 2011 Howell joined a handful of northwest coaches to win 300 games. On March 6th 2012 the Titans won their 2nd NWAC Championship under Howell, beating Chemeketa 110-98. Howell becomes just the 3rd active NWAC coach to win two NWAC Titles. His 2012 team finished the season with a 26-5 record. In 2011, the Titans were the unanimous #1 ranked team in the NWAC for the final 2 months of the 2010-11 season. They became the first team to ever go 16-0 in the NWAC Western Region while winning their 6th region title in Howell's last 8 seasons and finished with a NWAC best 26-3 record. The Titans once again placed high 4th at the NWAC Tournament. This was all accomplished despite losing leading scorer & rebounder Brandon Magee for 9 of the last 10 games. In 2010 the Titans also finished in the Final Four placing 3rd at the NWAC Tournament, Howell's Teams have won 7 NWAC Region Titles in his career. In addition the Titans had a NWAC best record of 25-4 in 2010. Howell is in his second stint as the TCC Head Men's Basketball Coach. After completing most of his first season as the Athletic Director at Tacoma Community College, he was once again named Head Men's Basketball Coach in April 2008. In his first season back at the helm, the Titans finished 26-5 and advanced to the Elite 8, a 20-win improvement over TCC's 2007-08 team. He was the Head Men's Basketball coach from 1993-2003 and is the school's all-time leader in wins. From the 2003-04 to 2006-07 season Howell was the Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Eastern Washington University (EWU) in Cheney, WA. In his first season with the Eagles, he helped guide them to the Big Sky Conference Championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament. That EWU team was led by former TCC players Brendon Merritt (Big Sky Conference Tournament MVP), Josh Barnard, Khari Nicholas and Rachi Wortham. While at EWU, Howell recruited current NBA player Rodney Stuckey who was drafted 15th overall in the 2007 NBA draft. Howell was highly successful in his first stop at TCC winning the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges championship in 2002, as well as sending over 50 players onto four-year schools including 19 to the NCAA Division I level.
During his coaching career at TCC, he has coached the Titans to 363 victories, including 262 in his last ten seasons alone, for an average of 26.3 wins per year. His overall record in 15 years at the helm is 363-109 (77 %). His last nine teams have all won at least 25 games. The Titans were nearly unbeatable at home in his tenure with a 168-14 (92.4%) record, He is the only coach to win over 26 games in a season at TCC. Besides his 2012 and 2002 NWAC titles, his Tacoma teams appeared in three championship games, the semifinals five times and the quarterfinals on 11 occasions for a total of 16 postseason appearances. In addition, his teams won four-straight NWAC Western Region championships from 1998-2002, and he is the only coach in NWAC history to have four straight region titles and two 30-win seasons to his credit. In the 1999-2000 season, the Titans went 30-4 and placed fourth at the NWAC Tournament. He led Tacoma to a runner-up finish the following season, finishing with a 28-5 record. The next season, the Titans won the NWAC title finishing with a 30-3 record. Howell's squad beat top-ranked Big Bend 88-78 in the championship game. From January 2nd, 2002 to January 25th, 2003,
TCC won an amazing 37 of 38 games vs. NWAC competition. Howell was selected NWAC Coach of the Year twice, and has been the Western Region Coach of the Year six times.
The Titans won 6 Straight NWAC Crossover Tournaments under Howell from 1999-2003, 2008 and 2009 while winning 9 of the 12 Crossovers TCC has participated in. He was also head coach of the NWAC All-Star Game on eight occasions.
Howell coached at Central Washington from 1989-1992 and in 1989 helped guide them to a 31-5 record and a fifth-place finish in the NAIA Tournament. While at Central, he played and coached under legendary Hall of Fame coaches Dean Nicholson and the late Gil Coleman. Prior to transferring to CWU, he was teammate of former NBA Player David Wood at Skagit Valley playing for NWAC Hall of Fame coach Dave Quall. Currently 9 of Howell’s former players or assistant coaches are coaching in college, including 4 at the NCAA Division 1 Level. Most recently Howell was an assistant coach at the University of Puget Sound for the 2017-18 season helping the Loggers to an 18-8 record. Howell has been the co-director and 17U head coach of the Under Armour sponsored Washington Supreme AAU program since 2016 which has sent several players to NCAA Division I programs. Currently, Howell has 1 professional coach that was a former player John Rillie Head Coach Perth Wildcats of the NBL and 5 former players or coaches coaching at the college level and 4 current Head High school coaches, including 2 at the Division 1 level - Sam Scholl asst coach Montana St. and former Head coach University of San Diego, R.Jay Barsh Asst. Coach Gonzaga University. and Jesse Brown of D2 Alaska Fairbanks, Geoff McIntosh Asst Coach D2Point Loma & TCC Head Coach Rachi Wortham. Current High School coaches Josh Barsh - Foss, Will Jones- Hudson's Bay , Dom Williams - Annie Wright and Arvin Mosley - Emerald Ridge Girls.
Howell earned a B.S. in Physical Education from Central Washington in 1991 and received his Masters of Education from City University in 2007. He graduated from Morton High School in 1984 He and his wife, Jeri are the parents of two sons - Cameron 1993 who played for Skagit Valley in 2016-17 and Connor 1997 a 2020 graduate of Central Washington University, and 4 chocolate labs Captain and Coco, Champ & Chief. On December 3th 2021 Granddaughter Logan was born.
