Howard struggled in the 2014 prep football season, getting no closer in 10 games to a win than a 34-18 loss to Lancaster Christian.
It's been that way since a third-game upset of Loudon in the 2013 season. The Hustlin' Tigers actually have struggled for a while, their last winning season (8-3) and playoff appearance coming in 2010. They won only three games over the next four seasons.
A glimmer of hope, though, is flickering these days in Tiger Town, based partly on second-year coach Mark Teague and partly on a hearty bunch of rising juniors who witnessed the good years under Alvin Tarver, who directed Howard to four seasons with seven or more wins from 2006 to 2010.
"This core group of sophomores is large in numbers. They're very close-knit. They came up together and never separated," Teague said. "They made almost an unspoken commitment to stay together. They play basketball together and they hang out together on weekends."
Some had chances to go elsewhere but they stayed, spurning financial-aid offers.
"They were like little puppies," Teague said, recalling the 2014 season. "They hadn't been trained but had the mindset of give it to us and we'll soak it up."
He saw them as the group that would return Howard to prominence.
"In order to turn around a program you have to have a core group that can withstand the storm that others can build off of," the coach said.
The group, when together and not practicing basketball, playing soccer or running track, numbers close to 30. Many played peewee football together. Some went to Orchard Knob Middle School, others to East Lake, and now they're united again.
"At lunch, they sit together -- three tables of them. They've made it into a fraternity," Teague said.
"We consider ourselves to be as brothers, a family," quarterback Vincent Bowling said. "Our mindset is to put everything else behind us and encourage each other to get better at practice and in the weight room. We don't want another season like last year."
He was concise when asked about the ultimate goal.
"To get better every day," he said. "You either get better or you get worse."
Bowling is getting better -- bigger and stronger and perhaps even faster -- having packed on 25 pounds since he arrived as a 140-pound freshman.
He and his classmates are seeing results of their dedication. At a spring scrimmage -- and, yes, they realize it was a scrimmage -- Howard had its way with East Ridge.
"We felt real good about that," said Tadarrius "TD" Covington, a 6-foot-2, 295-pounder with whom college recruiters already are familiar. "Right now we're trying to get the old Howard back, when they used to win. A lot of us came to games when Howard was winning.
"Sure, it's possible for Howard to have a winning team. Everybody needs to be on the same page and we all have to want it, but everybody (including the rising seniors) has the same mindset."
The scrimmage showed more than the fact that the Hustlin' Tigers can win. They found proof of hard work and even team chemistry.
"Everybody knew where to go, what to do," Bowling said. "It looked sloppy at times but it's something to work on. There's no arguing. Everybody is better at taking criticism."
Teague actually has found time to smile. He's seen progress.
"This group has the components to be successful," he said, "and the freshmen behind them have a standard to live up to."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.