When Preston Howard announced he would enter the transfer portal on December 13, 2024, it was all but confirmed that he had played his final snap in a Maryland football uniform.
But just 13 months later, Howard transferred back to Maryland for his final season.
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According to the NCAA, more than 3,600 FBS scholarship players transferred to another NCAA school in 2025. With rosters overhauled year-to-year, much of the controversy regarding the portal has been the ability of players to leave their teams whenever they like.
Howard’s return to Maryland, which needed a strong leader and contributor at tight end, presents an overlooked alternative: with the portal, players have the chance to come back.
“We see people who transfer and do good, we see people who transfer and fall off the face of the Earth,” Howard said. “It’s a very unique situation for everyone — for me, it was a great situation. I got to come home.”
The rules allowing that smooth return have changed rapidly. Before 2021, football players who transferred schools were required to sit out for a year; only in April 2024 did the NCAA rule that players would have immediate eligibility after multiple transfers.
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Howard isn’t the only player who boomeranged to Maryland this offseason — defensive lineman and Pennsylvania native Lavon Johnson returned to Maryland for his senior season after spending a year at Texas. But for Howard, returning to College Park was a special opportunity.
“He really believes in Maryland, even still,” said his mother, Michelle Howard.
Growing up in Arbutus, Maryland, as the fourth of five brothers, Preston Howard combined raw athleticism with a lanky, 6-foot-5 frame and a strong competitive spirit. That stood out to McDonogh School’s head coach, Hakeem Sule, who recruited Howard to play football and basketball in what would become a deeply formative experience.
“My mom always tells me I might not realize it, but I was forced to grow up really fast,” Howard said.
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Howard’s impact at McDonogh was immediate.
“In his freshman year, we were playing Gilman, and we kind of needed a spark, so we threw him in there,” Sule said. “In the second half, he was just able to create stuff. He broke a couple tackles on one particular play and ran it for a touchdown … we were like, man, we have something here.”
After that game, he was entrenched in the McDonogh lineup, moving from a split defensive end/tight end role to quarterback. He later received attention and offers from several schools, including Auburn, Arizona State, Boston College and Michigan.
But with his junior season cancelled by COVID, visits were off the table. Maryland head coach Michael Locksley told Howard he could play anywhere for the Terrapins, which the recruit saw as a signal of trust. A strong relationship with then-tight ends coach and co-offensive coordinator Mike Miller helped Maryland secure the commitment.
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Howard redshirted in 2022 before reeling in 13 catches for 160 yards in 2023. He slipped back into a vocal leadership role, elevating as a second-year player.
And to cap the season, he caught his first and only career touchdown against Auburn in the Music City Bowl — the game-winner in a 31-13 victory.
After hauling in 24 catches in 2024, Howard entered the transfer portal and soon committed to Auburn. However, the 2025 season presented unexpected challenges.
“I think it was just a culture shock, honestly,” Howard said. “I was missing my family a lot, missing my brothers, missing my mom. It was definitely a great experience, and I’m very thankful I got to experience that, but I didn’t have my best year there, I wasn’t in my best headspace.”
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Howard played in every game and started seven in Auburn, but he finished with just 10 catches for 84 yards, the lowest marks of his career. Auburn went 5-7 and won just one SEC game, and it fired head coach Hugh Freeze in early November.
His mother called the season a “learning lesson.”
Multiple schools reached out to Howard when he re-entered the transfer portal in January. But Howard already knew he would return to Maryland — he said it was “always in the back of [his] mind” as he watched the Terps from afar in 2025.
On the field, Howard will be tasked with guiding a young Maryland offense and a tight end group led by new coach Kyle Schmitt — who competed against Howard yearly as the head coach at his high school’s local rivals, Archbishop Spalding.
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“I feel like I’ve been embraced as a leader, that’s what I was brought back here to do,” Howard said. “I’ve always had that voice, and I think people kind of have a respect for me, and I don’t take that lightly.”
Off the field, he has different responsibilities.
“I’m gonna be the first one in my family to get a degree,” Howard said. “I was thinking [about] where I want my degree to be from, and that was a really big thing to me. Growing up in Maryland, going to McDonogh and graduating from the University of Maryland, I feel like that’s a really prestigious thing.”
There’s more that comes with being home, too. He’ll be around for birthday parties and his younger brother’s high school graduation. Nearly two dozen people who watched Preston grow up are ready to take in his final year from a block of season tickets; many more will come to watch.
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“We do feel very lucky that he had the opportunity to come back,” Howard’s mother said. “We know that’s not something that happens all the time.”
Locksley has told Howard he’s an NFL guy since his freshman year; that evaluation still stands. Now that he’s again a Terp, the redshirt senior will aim for those heights under the coaching staff that has believed in him since the beginning.
“Being in college football as long as I’ve been in it, I’ve noticed it’s not going to be about where you go, the clout that the school has or whatever prestige. It’s going to be about what you do and the work you put in,” Howard said.
