Get to know defensive assistant Shawn Howe, including the best advice he has received in coaching.
What got you interested in coaching:
"I would say my seventh-grade basketball coach made a huge impact on me. I grew up as a ball boy for the high school teams, and I always wanted to be involved with sports. But then my seventh-grade basketball coach, Dennis Day, had such an impact on me. I realized you can have a huge effect on somebody's life if you do things the right way, which subsequently that was his motto, do the right thing. He affected me and my buddies. He's the best coach I ever had and made me want to be like him."
Describe your coaching style:
"People always see me coach and think he's really passionate. You're going to hear me be loud. Some people will say it's old school, but I would say it's more passionate. I've got a real passion for the game. A passion for making people better, for helping people get better and I take my part in that journey very seriously. I want to make sure I'm doing my part for everybody. So passionate is what I would say."
What do you love about coaching:
"Being with the players every day. The camaraderie, the relationships. We have a really good staff here. Every day when you wake up, you think, I get to go be around a bunch of guys that I love to be around. And then on top of it, you get on the grass with the players, there's nothing in the world like that. There's nothing else I've seen in my life that gives that feeling of investing in somebody and having that relationship built over working hard together."
Best advice you have received in coaching:
"I would say that the players don't care how much you know, until they know how much they care. And when you say somebody that coaches passionate or is hard on people or holds people to a high standard, I don't think you can do that and not treat people the right way and not care about people. So, I think it's important as soon as they know that you care about them, the relationship builds."
What is the best advice you give to young players:
"The biggest advice I like to give to young players is everybody's got their own journey. So don't compare yourself to anybody else. Just shut up and work. And shut up and work means something different for everybody. Maybe it's block out external noises. Maybe it's stop comparing myself to somebody else. Maybe it is stop beating myself up so badly about something I did wrong and just try to get better every day. Everybody's got their own journey, everybody's at their own pace. And I think what really hurts young players is when they compare their situation to everybody else's instead of trying to make themselves better every day they're here."
Favorite coaching moment:
"I've had some really good ones. I've been really fortunate. But when we won the national championship at Montana State before I came here. That was a huge one. To get to bring a championship to a place that I loved, to a fan base that I truly loved and glad I got to be a part of, to watch players that I coached walk out as national champions, that meant a lot to me."
Offseason relaxation/reset:
"It's easy. I like to go home to Dallas, Oregon, and my grandfather (Garold Howe) and I, who is 90-years old and he walks 18 holes every day, play golf. I like to challenge him. Him and I have a fierce rivalry. One of the best rivalries in sports is me and my 90-year-old grandfather. So, I just like to go home and golf with him every day and to beat him."
More about Shawn Howe:
Prior to joining the Steelers, Howe was at Montana State since 2021, serving as the defensive coordinator in 2025.
In 2024, when he was the co-defensive coordinator, Montana State had a school-record 15 wins, including winning the Big Sky Championship, and finished 11th in scoring defense (18.1) and 24th in rushing defense (121.2) in the FCS. They were also first in the Big Sky in sacks.
In his role as defensive run game coordinator/defensive line (2021-24), the defense led the FCS with 3.42 sacks per game in 2023. They were also 21st with 6.8 tackles for a loss per game, leading the Big Sky in both categories.
In 2022, the defense helped lead them to another Big Sky Championship, leading the conference in rushing defense.
Prior to his time at Montana State, he was a defensive analyst at USC (2019-20), defensive line coach at Coastal Carolina (2018), assistant head coach/defensive coordinator Dixie State (now Utah Tech, 2015-17), defensive line coach Humboldt State (2013-14), defensive graduate assistant/defensive line at USC (2011-12), assistant strength and conditioning coach at Tennessee (2010), graduate assistant at Memphis (2007-09), volunteer assistant at North Carolina State (2006), and outside linebackers coach at his alma mater Rocky Mountain College (2004-05).
