Spotlight: Skyler Gill-Howard
August 09, 2025 | Football
LUBBOCK – One of the most powerful moments in episode one of "The Brand" came when Skyler Gill-Howard, a senior-transfer on the Red Raiders' bulked-up defensive line, stood alone in front of his teammates and coaches during Texas Tech's first team meeting on report day for 2025 preseason camp. It was the first full team meeting, the evening before fall camp practices were to start the next morning, and head coach Joey McGuire finished the meeting by calling Gill-Howard to the front of the room to address the team.
"Coming to a new team, you can be a little nervous talking in front of everyone for the first time but I already feel a real connection with all these guys," Gill-Howard said. "I was a captain at my last school and was real confident in my role. I'll admit, I was a little iffy if these guys would listen to what I had to say already but at the same time you can't be scared. As a leader, you have to be confident standing alone and speaking your mind. It only takes one person to motivate an entire room sometimes and I hope I did that. I just wanted to inspire and connect with everyone. Serving to me means being a leader of men and that's what I'm here to do."
Gill-Howard didn't hold back as he spoke from his heart in the meeting. He talked about fall camp, going up against each other for a month before the season starts and how he was going to approach it. He called out veterans and newcomers on the team, telling them he was going to protect and respect everyone, but also if they had a different jersey on in practice he was coming for them. "If you're not thinking like that, you're doing everyone in here a disservice," he told the team. "The best offense I'm going to see is right in front of me this month. The best defense you're going to see is us. Why would we not come at each other's heads every day. We're all in the fight together at the end of the day. We're all in the fight. You have to realize that it's on us. Standards are personal. What are you holding yourself to every day? How are you improving every day?" His speech emphasized player accountability, leadership and always believing in each other. How every player needed to step up and push each other to be better every day.
"Accountability is so important because everything matters," Gill-Howard said. "If we come out here in a third-down situation and jump, we just gave the offense five yards. In a real game situation, that mistake could cost us the game. Out here at practice, you're just trying to keep yourself and everyone in check and understanding that we're building for something special. There's a bigger picture to everything we do out here."
"Skyler Gill-Howard stood up in front of the team in our first team meeting, asked me to talk, and just talked about how we've got to make each other better and how we have to practice," McGuire said. "He talked about how we have to take care of each other. We talk about it all the time to practice like pros. You turn on an NFL practice and you're not going to see a bunch of guys on the ground and taking cheap shots at each other. We do have to strain and make each other better. He made a big point of that."
Gill-Howard joined the Red Raiders in the spring with one season of eligibility remaining after beginning his career at Upper Iowa University and Northern Illinois. He's coming off a season at NIU where he recorded 51 tackles (27 solo), 5.0 sacks and earned All-MAC Third Team Defense honors. Over three collegiate seasons, Gill-Howard has 79 tackles but also experiences who have shaped him into the player he today. That didn't happen overnight. He was at Greenfield High School in Wisconsin when Covid hit, pushing back his recruitment and ultimately finding him playing at the NCAA Division II level at Upper Iowa. He appeared in only four games that season, finishing with three tackles before transferring to NIU as a walk-on. He'd redshirt his first season before playing in 12 as a sophomore in 2023, finishing with 24 tackles and building on the belief he always had in himself.
"I've been through a lot of adversity," Gill-Howard said. "Things haven't always gone right, but nothing has broken me. From going DII out of high school and then being a walk-on for three semesters at NIU was a challenge I was up for. Without all that stuff, I wouldn't be in the position I'm in today. It could have either broke or built me. I chose for it all to build me. One of my old coaches used to say, 'they tried to bury me, but I'm a seed and will grow back every time'. That's how I live my life. Growing and elevating."
"It wouldn't surprise me if when we got to Game 1 if he has a 'C' on his jersey," McGuire added. "He's that kind of guy. Very vocal. The great thing about him is that he backs it up."
A 6-foot-1, 290-pound defensive lineman from Milwaukee, Wisconsin with nine siblings, Gill-Howard has spent the first two weeks of fall camp living out his words he spoke to the team and working to prepare for his final collegiate season. The Red Raiders open the season against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on August 30, giving them three more weeks going up against each other and strengthening a defense that comes into the season with high expectations.
"Everyone is really flowing right now," Gill-Howard said. "As a defense, you have to work and move together. Flowing in one motion. Everyone is executing and working as hard as they can. No one is out here trying to be Superman. We're all working together and coming together as a team. There is no selfishness and a common goal."
Gill-Howard walked off the practice field on Thursday excited about the progress, but also not content with where he or the team is at. That mentality goes back to part of his speech to the team before fall camp began. As good as today was, make tomorrow better. As good as you play one day, keep improving yourself and those around you. It's a mentality aligned perfectly with McGuire's "What's Next" approach.
"The only person who should want it more than you today is you tomorrow," Gill-Howard said as he concluded his speech to the team. "It's you tomorrow. Elevate and pick each other up. Even if you're not a vocal leader, have energy. Do whatever you can to be an asset to this team. We need it. It's up to us. Leave nothing to chance."
