GOSHEN – The new Goshen High School volleyball coach should have no trouble finding his way around the Northern Lakes Conference.

Mike Howard, who spent eight seasons as the Warsaw volleyball coach, was hired Monday night to guide the fortunes of the RedHawks program.

Howard has spent the past two seasons as the volleyball coach at Whitko High School. He is also a Social Studies teacher at Whitko, as well as the girls track coach and the 7th and 8th grade girls basketball coach.

Howard, a 1990 Whitko graduate, guided the Wildcats to the program’s first-ever sectional championship in his first season in 2016.

Howard resigned in November of 2015 after eight years at WCHS. He was 206-58 at Warsaw with NLC championships in both 2012 and 2014. Howard’s 2012 Tiger team defeated Elkhart Memorial in an NLC match to end the Crimson Chargers’ 76-match conference winning streak. Howard was a two-time NLC Coach of the Year while at WCHS.

Howard and his wife Tricia (who played basketball and volleyball at Grace College)  have four children, including daughter Hayley who is a high school junior and a standout volleyball player. Howard will teach Social Studies at GHS.

The RedHawks went 2-5 in the NLC last fall under first-year coach Jude Barger.