CLEMSON — Clemson University’s Board of Trustees’ Compensation Committee officially approved the hire of a new coaches during a conference call Monday morning.

Justin Howell and Elisabeth Crandall-Howell were officially approved to be the new co-head coaches of the gymnastics program. They take over the program for Amy Smith, who was let go on April 18th after two seasons.

They both recently ran the program at the University of California.

The Howell’s become the second coaches to run Clemson’s Gymnastics program. The compensation committee approved the joint action of the Howell’s, who will each receive a matching compensation of $225,000 per year for the next five years.

These will be mirroring term sheets that will have other standard bonuses, along with terms and conditions.

“We are incredibly grateful and excited to be able to attract coaches of the caliber of Justin and Liz from Cal to Clemson,” Clemson athletic director Graham Neff said. “This is certainly a statement and an investment in Clemson gymnastics of which we have had national prominence in just two years of competition.

“We have high expectations and aspirations of national championship caliber competition and growth ahead.”

Smith was named the first-ever head coach of Clemson women’s gymnastics on April 26, 2022. The Tigers just completed their second season under Smith on April 4, which ended with a fourth place finish in the NCAA Regionals.

Clemson gymnastics concluded the 2025 season with a fourth-place finish in the Alabama Regional Session II with a 195.875 team score. This season marked many firsts for the young program, including the first NCAA Regional win in program history. 

The Tigers finished fifth in the ACC Championships in 2025.

Junior Brie Clark earned All-ACC honors on floor. Clark became the first gymnast in school history to earn back-to-back All-Conference selections.

In 2024, the program’s inaugural season, Clemson finished with an overall record of 5-3 and finished second in the ACC Championships. The program advanced to the NCAA Regionals, as well.

A 2016 Olympic coach, Justin Howell took the helm of the Cal Women’s Gymnastics program in June of 2012 and made an immediate impact, propelling the Golden Bears into the national gymnastics spotlight in his 13 seasons there. In 2018 he took on the role of Co-Head Coach with his wife, Crandall-Howell.

He was the winningest gymnastics coach in program history and the first to reach 100 & 200 wins at Cal, surpassing the 100-win mark at the 2018 Pac-12 Championships in the Bears’ third-place finish. He owns a 240-131-2 career record in all meetings, including the postseason. The Bears have claimed an NCAA Regional berth every season under Howell.

Crandall-Howell — a distinguished international brevet-level judge, an internationally experienced gymnast, and a collegiate All-American — joined Justin as an assistant coach at Cal in September 2012, and was elevated to associate head coach in July 2014 and co-head coach in Oct. 2018.

Since joining the Cal women’s gymnastics staff, Crandall-Howell has been integral in Cal’s stellar ascent through the national rankings. The Bears finished the 2012 season ranked 49th nationally shortly before Crandall-Howell joined the program, and finished as high as 7th in both 2016 and 2023.

Cal’s 33-spot rise from 2012-14 marks the largest margin of improvement in NCAA gymnastics history, a feat only one other school has achieved (Maryland, 1997-99). Under her tutelage, Cal has earned 11 consecutive trips to NCAA Regionals since 2013 and has claimed five berths to the NCAA Championships in the last seven seasons the NCAA Championships have been held (2016, 2018, 2021, 2023, 2024).

Crandall-Howell works with all aspects of the Cal women’s gymnastics program, including fitness and nutrition, academic support and character development both in and out of the gym. Additionally, Crandall-Howell lends her expertise as an international brevet judge to help strengthen Cal’s routines across the board.