By the time they left the University of California at Berkeley, Justin Howell and Liz Crandall-Howell had come to define the school’s women’s gymnastics team.
The husband-and-wife coaching team had taken the squad from the brink of being cut in 2012 to a perennial national power, including a runner-up finish at the 2024 NCAA Championships. Their success had put them in the conversation for nearly every high-profile coaching opening for years – but they always stayed put.
So, when the co-head coaches announced they were leaving northern California to take the helm of Clemson University’s women’s gymnastics team, the move turned heads.
It was unexpected, admits Howell, even for them.
“For years, even up to the moment we accepted the job, I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m leaving California,’” Howell told Olympics.com.
But something shifted on their visit to the campus as part of the interview process, and by the time they were heading back home, Howell says he knew it was the right move.
“We were headed to the airport, and I remember turning to Liz and saying, ‘We gotta do this,’” he recalled.
The couple had made a connection during the trip.
“We knew the resources would be amazing. We knew the gym was brand new and beautiful,” Crandall-Howell said. “But what we could not have anticipated was how much we would fall in love with the people we interacted with from the very first time we were here. You can’t explain it until you’re here.”
That sense of community erased any fears either had about making such a dramatic change to their lives.
“We’re grown adults,” Howell added, “but these changes are still super scary. The level of support we felt – not just for gymnastics, but for us as people – made it feel right.”
Building culture first
Their openness to take on something new is part of the couple’s shared philosophy: one day better.
“It’s a coaching philosophy, but for Justin and I, it’s something that we live by every day,” Crandall-Howell explained. “Although it came about because of gymnastics, it really is something that we try to embody in our everyday.
“We felt like we want to continue to challenge ourselves and that we were at a point in our lives where definitely the opportunity to continue to grow something and build something was incredibly intriguing and exciting,” she continued. “Something that we know we can continue to push ourselves in ways that we’ve never pushed ourselves either.”
Their first days at Clemson were more focused on how the team connects than how it trains.
One of their immediate priorities was bringing the team together, getting to know them and letting the athletes get to know them, as well. They also wanted to work on defining a collective identity, a process that took place during a team retreat alongside the squad’s mental performance coach, who helped facilitate conversations.
“They came up with new core values for them, and they actually just got put on the wall [of the gym],” Crandall-Howell said.
The words the Tigers landed on: empower, purpose, growth, respect – and in the centre of it all, joy.
“It was a really powerful process,” she said later. “They had the chance to talk about the things they wanted to stand for collectively. And it gave them an opportunity to have conversations and share parts of themselves that maybe they hadn’t before.”
Back to basics
Those five words are more than mere décor. They’re a north star for the squad.
“It’s not like you can put them up on the wall and now everything’s wonderful,” said Crandall-Howell. “It’s when you’re faced with struggle, when you’re faced with decisions, you can look towards those words as our guiding principles.”
Those core values, the coaches say, have also taken shape in training, where the gymnasts have had to adapt to a new approach focused on foundation work and ownership of one’s gymnastics.
Part of that has included an increased emphasis on the basics of the sport – a process that can be frustrating at first.
“One of the things that I’m pretty committed to is basics on beam,” said Crandall-Howell. “Often people don’t do that after they learn it initially… but the basic of a back handspring, back handspring helps any other backwards series you do.”
Howell gave the example of the drop kip on bars, something he introduced early on.
“At first everyone’s looking at me like I’m crazy — why are we doing this?” he said. “And then they try it and are like, ‘Whoa, that’s hard.’ You’ve got like 85 percent of them that in the first couple of days can’t do it, and then they figure it out… Now, a staple part of their warm-up is doing a set of five drop kips every day.”
A growth mindset drives the Howells’ next chapter
At Clemson, there have been shifts in responsibilities for the coaches, as well. Howell, who’s now overseeing the uneven bars – an event he hadn’t led since his early days at Cal – says the key is adapting to the group in front of them today.
“We’ve walked into the situation with a good skeleton of what we know works,” he said. “But we’re also dealing with a completely different set of athletes from all kinds of different backgrounds.”
Crandall-Howell agrees.
“Every single team is different,” she said. “When you’re doing your best work, it’s when you’re willing to constantly reevaluate what you’re doing.”
That mindset has already taken root.
“They really are a very, very fun group to coach,” Howell said. “They’re an incredibly hungry and motivated group… we see their confidence building and building each week.”
There have been breakthroughs, too, with Lilly Lippeatt returning to full training after shoulder surgery earlier this year. She competed on the uneven bars at their recent showcase event.
Then there’s Brie Clark, the first NCAA gymnast to compete one of the elements originated by Simone Biles. She’s back vaulting for the first time since her club career and has learned a 10.0 vault (Kasamatsu).
As the squad heads into its third-ever competitive season, vault and beam are looking deep, with floor shaping up nicely. If there’s one area that still needs refining, it’s bars — though the staff sees steady improvement.
“They’re definitely getting better every day,” Howell says.
As for expectations? The Tigers finished 29th in the 2025 season, and this season, the coaches see the possibility of a big jump.
“I think it’s realistic to be inside the top fifteen,” said Howell. “We try, obviously, not to focus on rankings or scores. We really just want to be the most prepared team we can possibly be.”
Adds Crandall-Howell: “We would like them to know when they go out to compete that they can own the routine they’re about to do… and now it’s just time to celebrate.”
So much of what the Howells are building at Clemson is about more than gymnastics — it’s about connection, growth, confidence, gratitude and, yes, getting one day better.
“We want them to know that they are absolutely capable of doing a perfect routine when they go out to compete,” said Crandall-Howell. “And the strength that gives the entire team… it gives confidence to the whole group.”
But ultimately, they hope what resonates most is something simple.
“Joy,” Howell said. “We want people to think that our team is connected, that you just see the joy and the passion they have for each other and the sport.”