By Dan Hardenbrook
When the Engadine Eagles football team gets back on the field next week, they’ll have a new coach calling the shots – but he’s not new to Engadine. Howard Hood is back in the green and gold, returning to lead the team he previously coached and played for.
When practice starts on Monday, it will be his third stint as either the head coach or an assistant on the Engadine sideline.
One of his closest confidants will be next to him: Michigan High School Hall of Fame Coach Joe Austin, most recently Head Coach in Newberry, will come out of retirement to assist Hood. Austin will be making his own return to a program that was a major part of his historic resume.
In Hood’s previous tenure with Engadine, the Eagles had a powerful physical attack, both at the 11 and 8 player levels. Hood is one of the winningest coaches in Eagles history, has previously led the Eagles to the postseason, and watched sons and family members make their way through the program. He takes over for former player Charlie Fosdick, who led the Eagles for three seasons.
Fosdick took over a program that had hit rock bottom and couldn’t get over the hump record wise. He struggled through low participation numbers and awkward scheduling issues in recent years. By hiring Hood, who has experience building and leading football programs in Engadine, the district hopes to create stability for a program. The Eagles last made the postseason in 2019, with Hood as their coach, finished with a 1-8 record in 2024, and a 6-3 record in 2023.
After nearly five decades in coaching and retiring a couple times, Austin is returning to the sideline for a final ride at the school that gave him his first break.
Austin spent the first eight seasons of his hall of fame career as the Eagles head coach before bouncing around the state. He then returned for a second tenure that lasted four more seasons before stepping away in 2018. That retirement only lasted a few weeks before Newberry talked him out of his initial sabbatical to help lead the school’s transition into 8 player football.
After the 2023 season and multiple playoff appearances, Austin retired again. Now he’s back to support a fellow player’s latest attempt on the sidelines. When asked what drew him back to the game he’s spent most of his life around, Austin said it was his relationship with Hood that swayed him.
“When a guy like Howard Hood calls and asks you to help, you have to say yes,” said Austin. “So I told him I would give it a shot, and we’ll see how this season goes.”
Hood is quickly preparing for practices, putting together a playbook, studying opponents and their changes since he last coached. He began meeting with players earlier this week and is hoping to get enough players out to field a JV team. Engadine hasn’t completed a full JV season in many years, part of a trend that the school believes has led to lower numbers and struggles for the program.
Engadine opens the season on August 28 at Rapid River.
