Quiet.
That seems to be the word most people use when describing Theo Howard. From the secretary to his football coach at Westlake High School, everybody seems to notice the reserved demeanor of UCLA’s nationally heralded recruit.
However, even the quiet ones cannot escape the frenzy that is modern-day recruiting.
High school football has changed drastically in the last five years. It has become a commonplace for college football coaches and high school recruits to communicate over Twitter, and it seems as if both Rivals.com and Scout.com release a new set of rankings every week. So Howard, a four-star wide receiver with game-changing speed, became a regular topic of discussion for various recruiting sites from the ripe age of 16.
“The recruiting process has been a gift and a curse,” Howard said. “It’s really been interesting and I really appreciated all the schools I got offers from, but I just had to narrow it down and get a lot of weight off my shoulders. I’ve wanted to commit (to UCLA) for a long time so it’s a big relief.”
Despite being content with the Bruins, it wasn’t an easy decision for Howard – an early enrollee currently living on campus. Ranked the No. 5 receiver in the nation by Rivals.com, Howard often found himself drawing much attention from all ends of the college football world. With 24 offers including Michigan, Oklahoma and crosstown rival USC, Howard verbally pledged to Oregon in March of his junior year after visiting Eugene, Oregon.
However, he soon decided to reevaluate his decision, decommitting from the Ducks five months later in August, before flipping to the Bruins on Nov. 1. Confident in his decision, Howard decided to graduate high school in December of his senior year in order to enroll at UCLA for this winter quarter.
“Theo just gets it done,” said Christina Harrison, the academic adviser to the Westlake High School football team. “He doesn’t need extra attention and he’s so easy to work with most importantly. But he knows what he wants and keeps his head down to get it.”
NATIONAL SIGNING DAY: Read the full recap from the Bruins’ busy day.
UCLA also provided Howard with many other aspects that made the decision easy for him. Besides being able to play in front of his family members in his native county, the wide receiver also shares relationships with various coaches and players on the Bruins roster.
“I’ve been really close with kids like Ishmael (Adams) and (Cameron) Judge and all of them, so I was really comfortable with that,” Howard said. “Also the coaching staff – I don’t think I would’ve committed if i didn’t feel the best with staff.”
Bruins’ wide receivers coach Eric Yarber has known Howard since his sophomore year, when the two first met at a UCLA summer football camp. Even while the current Bruin was committed to Oregon, Yarber continued to keep in touch with the sought-after recruit.
“He wasn’t pushing too hard, but he just always told me if I ever wanted to go to UCLA, I always got a spot there,” Howard said. “It was just a long process, and I was just really patient.”
Despite the hype, Howard prefers to keep to himself. He behaves just like any other guy in the eyes of his high school coach, Tony Henney.
“Big-time wide receivers are supposed to be kind of ball dominant guys, but he’s just such a team guy,” Henney said. “Once, he was getting triple teamed and some other kids had breakout games because of it and he was so happy for them. He understood why the ball was going their way – he’s just so into the team concept, I was very impressed with that by him.”
Henney was also sure to mention Howard’s elite speed, as the receiver clocked in at 4.38 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the Nike Football Opening Regionals in Oakland. In two years of varsity football, the speed demon has accounted for over 1,800 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns.
Still, Howard keeps his head down.
“I’ve never been that type of guy to do a lot of talking,” Howard said. “My parents just showed me how to do simple things like respect people and how to carry myself and stuff like that, so I think that’s just me. I like to just perform and keep to myself.”
Howard will get an immediate shot at playing time and even possibly a starting job, as UCLA will lose five of last season’s top-six receivers to graduation or the NFL. He will join fellow four-star receivers Dymond Lee, Demetric Felton and Darian Owens this fall, creating the core of a young and athletic receivers group for seasons to come. Owens, who committed in April, 2015, noted the magnitude of Howard’s commitment back in November.
“Having Theo in the mix is the finisher,” Owens told Sportsoutwest.com in November of last year. “He’s the icing on the cake.”
Howard is looking forward to playing with the group Owens calls the “bomb squad.” Being the only one of the four to enroll early, Howard is waiting for his fellow receivers to join him in Westwood.
Owens and Lee are expected to officially sign with the Bruins on national signing day, while Felton has already inked his letter of intent, according to ESPN.com.
“I’m looking forward to playing with those guys a lot,” Howard said. “I know UCLA loses a couple of receivers this year, and I just think we’re all great athletes that have a lot to bring to the table. ‘Bomb squad’, you know that just means we’re guys that have a lot of speed and go deep.”
Henney ran an offense centered around Howard in his first year as coach at Westlake High School, using him in a variety of different ways – very often going to deep to the speedster. In his senior year, Howard averaged 110.8 all purpose yards per game and was just 41 yards shy of hitting the 1,000-yard receiving mark in only 10 games played.
“The ball can be almost anywhere and he’ll get his hands on it,” Henney said. “He’s got some skills that you just can’t coach and I think he has a chance to be really special there, especially with the young quarterback playing so well – it has to be a very exciting time for UCLA football.”
With Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year quarterback Josh Rosen holding the reins of the Bruins offense, UCLA will continue to hunt for its first Pac-12 championship under Jim Mora. Multiple recruiting services have predicted the Bruins to use Howard in a multitude of ways, as he already possesses elite speed at the college level. Regardless of what happens, Howard will stick to what he knows – keeping his head down and staying focused.
After all, he is a quiet one.
