WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – William & Mary Athletics announced the hiring of Jonathan Howard as the new head coach of the Tribe women's golf program. Howard, who has 10 years of collegiate coaching experience, joins the Green and Gold after spending the last three years as the head women's coach at Christopher Newport University.
 
"Jonathan's experience as a championship student-athlete and developing a program with competitive and academic success vaulted him to the top of our candidate pool," Director of Athletics Brian Mann said. "He understands the importance of having a strong culture and is committed to building a winning program that develops strong student-athletes at William & Mary."
 
Along with his tenure as the head coach, Howard spent five years as an assistant coach of both the men's and women's golf teams at CNU.  He assisted with transforming the women's golf program from its inaugural season in 2017-18 into a top-25 team and a consistent winner. The Captains were ranked in the national top 25 during two of Howard's three seasons at the helm.
 
"I'm incredibly honored and excited to become the Head Women's Golf Coach at William & Mary," Howard said. "My deepest thanks to Director of Athletics Brian Mann for this incredible opportunity and for trusting me to lead such a distinguished program. I'm profoundly grateful to the entire Christopher Newport University community for their unwavering support and inspiration. I look forward to this next chapter in Williamsburg with immense gratitude and enthusiasm."
 
Howard has a championship pedigree having both played and coached in the NCAA Division III Championship. A four-year letterwinner at Christopher Newport, Howard won a conference individual title and played in the NCAA Tournament in 2011 and 2012. As an assistant coach, he mentored two teams on the men's side and three individual NCAA Championship qualifiers for the women's team.
 
This past season, Howard led CNU to three tournament titles, two individual crowns, a national ranking, and a school-record season scoring average. During the fall, the Captains won the Alvernia Fall Invitational (Havre de Grace, Md.), before opening the spring with a 36-stroke victory in the Pfeiffer Spring Invitational (Ocean Isle Beach, N.C.). CNU, which was ranked as high as No. 20 nationally, wrapped up the year by winning the VSGA Women's Intercollegiate (Lexington, Va.) in April.
 
Howard led CNU to a pair of runner-up performances at the Chick-Fil-A Invitational (Rome, Ga.) and the Spartan Fall Invitational (Mount Wolf, Pa.) in 2023-24. Durning his first season as head coach, the Captains finished the year ranked No. 25 in the country and tallied five top-10 finishes. Howard was named the Virginia Sports Information Directors State Coach of the Year for his efforts.
 
Along with coaching three national qualifiers, Howard has helped women student-athletes earn two All-America awards, three All-Region accolades, and 11 All-State honors while winning the team title at the Capital Athletic Conference Championship in 2018.

As an assistant coach of the men's team at CNU, Howard helped lead the Captains to four team tournament wins and four team runners-up, including the 2018 CAC Championships. Individually, he coached six All-Americans, 10 All-Region selections, six all-conference honorees, three individual tournament champions, and a U.S. Amateur Championships Qualifier.
 
Before returning to his alma mater, Howard was the head coach of the men's golf program at Lynchburg College for two years.
 
Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Howard was a standout golfer at CNU from 2011-14. During his time on the links, he led the Captains to a pair of league titles to go along with the NCAA Championship appearances in 2011 and 2012. He graduated seventh in career stroke average (76.47) and received PING All-Region honors, All-State and All-Conference honors. Howard earned his Bachelor of Arts in History in 2014.