Rick Howard
Howard, Rick: Brookwood High School
Howard was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame in 2024.
A reporter called Rick Howard to let him know he would be getting inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2024.
Howard tried his best to deflect the attention.
“I was very blessed,” said the former Brookwood and Lambert head coach. “I thought I was pretty organized and I got people into the right places. They did all the work.”
The longtime coach finished his career with a 348-219 mark. He guided Brookwood to a state baseball championship in 2008 with a 34-3 mark and a No. 3 national ranking.
His 2012 squad finished as the state runner-up.
His team’s captured four region titles and they always competed in Georgia’s highest classification.
Howard began his coaching career as an assistant at East Paulding, then he was hired at Bookwood where he was the school’s pitching coach under Tom Jones for four seasons. Tom Jones left and the Broncos hired Doug Jones, a Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame coach, to lead the program.
Howard remained as the school’s pitching coach for six seasons until Doug Jones was hired at Mill Creek High School before the 2005 season.
He took over the Broncos in 2005 and remained there until 2016 when he needed a change and took the head baseball position at Lambert High in Forsyth County.
He sent more than 50 players to college during his coaching career. Some of his prized pupils include former first-rounder Lucas Sims who was the Braves’ first round selection in the 2012 draft. A year later, Cedric Mullins was taken in the 13th round.
Howard hired Jacob Oldknow as the team’s social media manager in 2013. When Howard announced his retirement after the 2022 season, Oldknow wrote a column about his mentor that was published in the Gwinnett Daily Post.
Oldknow talked about Howard’s impact on his life and said “the biggest takeaway from playing for Coach Howard is the concept of the boat. Coach Howard emphasized that everyone had to be in ‘the boat’ and pulling in the same direction in order for us to have success as a team.”
Howard’s humbleness and laid-back style made him a favorite among his players and his peers.
“Rick has a special gift, he really has,” Doug Jones said. “He was my pitching coach. Some of his stuff he taught I still use to this day. He took Brookwood to another level when he took over.
“His teams were very hard to prepare for. When you played against him, the kids all loved him and they played hard for him. The things he was able to do, I can’t say enough good things about. In my opinion, he could have done this (coached) as long as he wanted.”
Howard retired to spend more time with his family. However, his legacy goes beyond the game.
“I’m smart enough to know I’m very fortunate,” he said. “I had some great players and some great assistant coaches. I love my assistant coaches. I was just blessed to be around the game.”