Skyler Howard was working in the oilfield for a short period of time before finding his next gig as a quarterback.
It wasn’t too long ago that he was leading the offense for West Virginia, lighting up the Big 12 in Dana Holgorsen’s air raid offense.
Now he’s set to become the next man under center for the West Texas Warbirds, who are coming off an undefeated inaugural season under head coach Tate Smith.
“The opportunity came in, I talked to Coach Smith, talked to (general manager) Leif [Kertis], talked to those guys and saw what they had going on,” Howard said. “It got me excited to kind of scratch that itch a little bit.
“That football itch, I never officially got away from it.”
Before turning to the oilfield, Howard was playing for the Obic Seagulls in the Japanese X-League.
He ended up in Japan after spending brief stints on practice squads with the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts and the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks.
Smith is ready to see what the signal caller can do with returning playmakers like receiver Jordan Gandy, who led the Warbirds in receptions and touchdowns last year.
“The main thing that we want to focus on at quarterback is, we need somebody to come in whose going to take control of the team,” Smith said. “If he comes in and wins that spot like we think he will, the team’s going to follow him just like they did Daniel [Smith] last year.”
The coach has already spoken with Howard about how plays will be communicated in the offensive system, emphasizing how simplified and complex the nuances of playing indoor football can be.
Howard believes there’s an opportunity to take his game to the next level with the Warbirds, using some of the lesssons he learned while playing overseas.
The Warbirds are set to play in the Arena Football Association this season, starting with a game against the Texas Jets April 16 at the Ector County Coliseum.
Going into the new season, Howard wants to use some of the dual-threat ability that made him stand out through his previous stops.
“Between the lines it’s football,” Howard said. “No matter the size of the field and the rules, at the end of the day we’re throwing a football to a wide receiver.”
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