Phillip Howard and his versatility epitomizes what it means to be a Minnesota Golden Gopher.
The former wide receiver turned defensive back is in his fifth season in Minneapolis after backing out of the transfer portal he entered prior to the 2020 season.
A Minneapolis native, Howard is no stranger to the Gophers football program. He lettered in four sports prior to committing to Minnesota in the spring of 2015.
Howard chose Minnesota over Wyoming, Western Michigan and five others. Rated a three-star prospect by Rivals, he was ranked the fifth best recruit in the state of Minnesota and the 56th best recruit at his position overall.
A swiss army knife as an athlete in high school, not only did Howard letter in football, baseball, basketball and track in his prep years, but played quarterback, defensive back and return specialist on the gridiron.
In his senior season, Howard totaled over 1,200 all-purpose yards along with 17 total touchdowns. The versatile weapon was named second team all-state as an all-purpose contributor by the Associated Press.
Coming into Minnesota his freshman year as a wide receiver, Howard redshirted in 2016. In 2017, the 5-foot-11 195-pound pass catcher started in seven of 11 games that he played in adding 11 catches for 132 yards.
The following season in 2018, Howard played in nine games catching just two passes when he would make the switch to defensive back late in the season. In 2019, Howard would have his biggest impact for the Gophers tallying five tackles, one interception and one forced fumble, proving he could be a worthy contributor on the defensive side of the ball.
After last season on January 10th, Howard placed his name in the NCAA transfer portal in search of more playing time elsewhere. Ultimately, not even two weeks later he would retract that decision and stay with the Gophers for his senior season.
“I was in the portal...for a couple weeks...and I just knew I couldn’t be away from the guys," Howard said. "It hit me when I entered and took some time...I came back. Coach Fleck accepted me back. I told him I’m going to put in the work and he believed in me.”
This year has been a tough year in the sports world for fans and players alike. It's no surprise Howard had mixed emotions about the current season coming in. All in all, the hardworking athlete knew where his home remained.
“Coach Fleck preaches when things get hard, you keep rowing...we had a man to man conversation...things were hard and I didn’t feel like giving up. I stuck it out," Howard said.
Howard received his first start of the season at cornerback last week versus Iowa, something he and his loyal teammates were more than ready for.
“I went out there and we prepare every day for the moment...coach (Joe) Ross(i) and coach (Paul) Haynes do a great job of preparing us everyday and the defense everyday," Howard said. "In this program we develop a next man up mentality.”
Having that kind of mentality has led to Howard's success as a jack of all trades kind of player in his five seasons with the Gophers. He knows as well as anyone in college football that you don't have to put up big numbers to impact your team.
“It’s all about experience and leadership...young guys look to older guys for that experience and that leadership...we’re a developmental program as Coach preaches," Howard said. "We continue to develop the young guys. We continue to develop the older guys. The standard is the standard, we won’t come down.”
Thus far in the 2020 season, Howard has racked up three tackles and a punt return. This week a tough challenge lies ahead of the Minnesota defense in a Purdue team that has two deadly receivers to cover in David Bell and Rondale Moore, the latter of which still has yet to play a game this season.
“Purdue has a great group of guys on the outside, whether that’s Rondale Moore or David Bell, their whole unit is dominant...and they can all do a good job of catching the ball and getting yards after the catch," Howard said. "So it’s going to be a challenge for us.”
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