Howard Sturgeon - Player Development Coordinator - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Howard Sturgeon

Title:
Player Development Coordinator

Sturgeon joins the Cougar staff as the Player Development Coordinator after two seasons as an assistant coach at HCU where the team made a run to the Southland Conference Tournament Semifinals.

In his first season with the Cougars, Sturgeon helped the program to its first winning season since 2021 with a 7-4-7 record. Houston recorded its first undefeated non-conference finish in program history including a 4-1 route of rv Texas, marking the first victory against the Longhorns since 2000.

Houston allowed just one goal during non-conference action and 14 on the season marking the lowest total ever allowed in non-conference action and the lowest season total since 2010.

The Cougars opened Big 12 Conference play with a 3-1 victory over Cincinnati, marking the most goals scored in a single Big 12 match in program history as well as the first time opening conference play victorious.

Sturgeon helped Houston to a 2-4-5 Big 12 record — Houston's best since joining the league — while tallying its most conference points in league play (11).

The Cougars earned three Big 12 weekly awards as Lexi Gonzalez earned the program's first award as Goalkeeper of the week. Samira Minor earned the Big 12's Offensive Player and Freshman of the week after she recorded a brace against Cincinnati, marking the first time since 2021 a Big 12 soccer player had won multiple awards in the same week since 2021.

Minor was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team and All-Freshman teams which was the first time a Houston Soccer player earned a spot on the Big 12 First or Second Team in program history. Minor was the second Cougars to earn a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team (Aryanna Jimison, 2023).

Prior to joining the Huskies, Sturgeon was named Interim Head Women’s Soccer Coach at Briar Cliff University for the Spring 2023 season and served as an assistant coach for two seasons where he helped lead the Chargers to their first GPAC Tournament Championship in 2021, as well as an undefeated GPAC regular season in 2022, going 10-0-2.

During Sturgeon’s time at Briar Cliff, the program amassed a 28-6-5 record, made back-to-back appearances in the NAIA National Tournament and the team never dropped outside of the NAIA Coaches National Rankings.

As a player, Sturgeon was an A.I.I. All-Conference selection in 2017 at Waldorf University where he was a part of the schools' first A.I.I. Conference Championship and its first appearance in the NAIA National Tournament.