Coming full circle.

That will be the feeling during the upcoming season of Owensville High School football this fall.

That is because former Owensville Dutchmen football player Dustin Howard was named the latest head coach of the Owensville High School football program during the May 15 meeting of the Gasconade County R-2 Board of Education.

Howard takes over for former head coach Nathan Cabot who accepted a position in the Washington school district.

Playing under then head coach Randy Crowe for three of his four years of high school football, Howard will have the good fortune of having Crowe on his staff this fall as a volunteer assistant coach.

“It has been so much fun helping Dustin as a volunteer assistant coach thus far,” Crowe said. “I remember he was a very hard worker when he played for me and he is carrying that over to the coaching side of the equation.”

So far, Howard feels that Crowe has not missed a beat from his head coaching days in the early 2000s.

“It has been just like it was when I played under coach (Randy) Crowe,” Howard said. “He doesn’t shy away from coaching. He spends the whole time coaching from the weight room to the field.”

Another assistant coach on Howard’s staff is a former player.

Graduating from OHS back in 2019, former Dutchmen lineman Jarret Payne will be one of Howard’s assistant coaches working with the offensive and defensive linemen.

“He coaches just like I remember him playing,” Howard said. “He is intense and gets right down to business.”

Throughout summer workouts, there have been almost an average of 50 players in the weight room on any given week.

Creating a team atmosphere, players have had to wear black shirts and black shorts.

Also joining Howard as assistant coaches during his first season as Dutchmen head football coach will be Scott Lewis, Steven Kemp, Zach Bollmann and Steven Benton.

Benton will be working with the wide receivers and defensive backs.

“From day one of the summer, he has owned coaching our wide receivers and defensive backs,” Howard said of Benton. “He has made those two groups better and the kids respond to him well.”

Before the Dutchmen kick off their regular season on Friday, Aug. 25 on the road in a Highway 19 showdown at Cuba, Howard’s orange and black squad will get to host their annual preseason jamboree for the first time in recent memory.

Teams participating in addition to the host Dutchmen in jamboree action on Friday, Aug. 18 at Dutchmen Field will be Linn’s Wildcats, South Callaway’s Bulldogs, Fulton’s Hornets, Montgomery County’s Wildcats and Russellville’s Indians.

Going 4-0 as a player against their Highway 19 neighbors to the south, Howard will look to open his first season as Dutchmen head football coach by keeping their unblemished record against Cuba in tact.

Howard will open his first September as Dutchmen head football coach with another road showdown in Miller County against Eldon’s Mustangs.

Another first during Howard’s first season of Dutchmen football will be a Monday afternoon junior varsity home game against the Mustangs on Labor Day.

Four days later, Howard will get his first chance to play on the Dutchmen Field turf when Warrenton’s Warriors make their first visit to Owensville for a gridiron showdown for the first time since the 2000 season.