Trying to replace the league’s second-leading rusher isn’t exactly an easy task.
But nabbing the country’s 10th leading rusher certainly might help.
IU Coach Kevin Wilson announced Thursday that former UAB running back standout Jordan Howard will transfer to IU. The announcement comes just three days after IU junior running back Tevin Coleman declared for the NFL draft, leaving IU with an obvious void to fill.
“It’s exciting. It’s a big relief,” Howard said. “At first, it was very overwhelming for me, but now I’m just glad it’s over with.”
Because UAB’s program shut down, Howard is immediately eligible to play beginning in 2015.
A true junior, he will have two years of eligibility remaining.
“As our season ended, we thought it was likely Tevin Coleman was headed to the NFL,” Wilson said in a team release. “Jordan instantly became our top target.”
Howard was contacted by IU running backs coach Deland McCullough the day he was granted his release from UAB.
He said he liked a number of things about the Hoosiers including the fact that IU had just had a 2,000-yard rusher in Coleman. He also liked that McCullough has playing experience under Wilson.
Wilson was McCullough’s offensive coordinator at Miami (Ohio).
“(McCullough) played a big part in me choosing Indiana,” Howard said. “Me and him have a great relationship. He knows what coach Wilson is all about having been a player on the field for a couple of years.”
The 2014 First-Team Conference USA running back finished seventh nationally with 132.3 yards per game last season at UAB. He finished with 1,587 yards and 13 touchdowns and averaged 5.2 yards a run.
Howard, a Gardendale, Ala., native, had eight 100-yard games and ran for more than 150 yards five times in his sophomore campaign. He ended on a high note, rushing for 262 yards in UAB’s final game of the season against Southern Miss.
A 2013 Conference USA All-Freshman, Howard ran for 881 yards in his first college season, which was a single-season freshman record at UAB. That mark was tied for second in the NCAA for rushing yards by a freshman at 6.1 yards per carry.
Howard becomes the heir apparent to replace Coleman as IU’s starting running back after the Hoosiers lost Coleman to the NFL and backup D’Angelo Roberts to graduation.
Howard will join a young running back group in Bloomington that includes sophomores Devine Redding and Myles Graham, who both saw limited playing time as freshmen in 2014.
IU also has redshirt freshman Tommy Mister who will return in 2015 after missing all of 2014 season with a knee injury.
Wilson now has two former-UAB players set to join the Hoosiers in 2015. Howard will join wide receiver Marqui Hawkins, who has three years of eligibility at IU.
The two visited Bloomington together last month almost immediately after UAB announced the decision to shut the program down, but Howard said their decisions to come to IU were made separately.
Wilson said what happened at UAB was unfortunate for both Howard and the rest of the former players who were all left without a team to play for. Howard was among the most notably outspoken players to express his sadness that the program was ending, but he ultimately found a new home in Bloomington.
For the second time this offseason, UAB’s loss is IU’s gain.
“We recruited him very, very hard and we are excited he is joining us,” Wilson said. “The sign of a good program is finding good players to replace good players, and we have done just that."
Howard’s production has steadily grown in his first two seasons at college, which he hopes continues.
He said he isn’t trying to replace Coleman, but rather be a “piece of the puzzle” that helps IU return to the postseason.
“I just hope to improve year-to-year like I’ve done before,” Howard said. “I’m prepared to do anything I can to help the team get to a bowl game.”
