Greenwood football is turning over the keys of the program to a coach already familiar with the system.

The school announced Friday the hiring of William Howard as its next head football coach. Howard was Greenwood’s defensive coordinator the last three years before being promoted to head coach.

Greenwood will hold a news conference Monday at 10:30 a.m. to officially introduce Howard as the school’s sixth head football coach.

“I like the environment and the family atmosphere we have,” Howard told the Daily News in a phone interview Friday. “I want to continue the tradition we started there and keep the ball rolling. I’ve got children that are involved in athletics at that program at the middle school and high school level, so this is where I’m going to be for quite some time, hopefully.”

Howard has spent the last four years as an assistant football coach at Greenwood with previous stops at Warren Central, Barren County and Allen County-Scottsville. He played football at Western Kentucky from 1991-94.

His only previous head coaching experience was for two seasons at Barren County in 2005 and 2006 with a 6-14 record.

Howard replaces Chris Seabolt, who stepped down in December after five seasons and a 29-29 record. Under Seabolt, the Gators thrived in the veer offense with quarterback Jackson Adams. Greenwood went 4-8 last season and lost in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs, but posted back-to-back nine-win seasons the two previous years.

Howard knows the challenges that lie ahead with replacing Adams, the program’s all-time leading rusher. District competition is another factor Howard must work through. If the proposed district realignment presented at the last KHSAA Board of Control meeting is approved, Greenwood would share 5A, District 2 with Bowling Green, South Warren and Christian County.

“I would say that top to bottom, that district would compete with anybody in the state,” Howard said. “It’s going to be an extremely difficult district to compete in. They’ve got tradition at all those schools and we’re just going to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Our main focus is to keep kids in our district going to Greenwood High School and making it a positive atmosphere so that can happen.”{&end}