Ex-Rebels football coach Horton relishes interim opportunity at Minnesota

During the warm-up before Saturday's Penn State-Minnesota football game, Jeff Horton, the interim Golden Gophers coach, noticed the legendary Joe Paterno from across the field. Paterno was pointing fingers toward the Minnesota side and gesturing like ground control at a county airport trying to coax down a Cessna.

"It was obvious he didn't know who I was," said Horton, the former UNLV and UNR head coach appointed Gophers interim head coach when Tim Brewster was fired Oct. 17.

Afterward, Paterno shook Horton's hand, congratulated him on holding the Minnesota team together and might have mentioned how the game would be better if face masks were removed from helmets. Penn State won 33-21, but there was Jeff Horton shaking hands with Joe Paterno himself. This is the beauty of coaching in the Big Ten, even if only on an interim basis.

A lot of people consider this a wonderful opportunity for Horton, a chance to show he still has head coaching chops after 26 years in the business.

A lot of people forget this is Minnesota.

The Gophers have been playing football since 1882 and have been to the Rose Bowl only twice, in 1961 and '62. That's probably all you need to know about the supposed opportunity Horton has been handed in his first year as co-offensive coordinator.

Minnesota opened the season by beating Middle Tennessee State, 24-17. The next week it lost to South Dakota. Then it lost to Southern California, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Purdue and Penn State, in Horton's debut as interim coach. The Gophers' last four games are against No. 10 Ohio State, No. 5 Michigan State, Illinois and No. 18 Iowa.

Horton said he was grateful to athletic director Joel Maturi for sending him up the river without a paddle or much of a defense. On the flip side, a friend who had given Horton a job first had to lose his.

"It means we should have done a better job coordinating," Horton, 53, said. "But that's the way it is in our business. You move on and make the most of it. I feel fortunate. I've only officially been fired three times in 30 years."

One of those times was at UNLV. Horton went 7-4 at UNR in 1993, then got out from under Chris Ault's considerable shadow and influence to become UNLV's head coach. He guided the Rebels to a 7-5 record and a Las Vegas Bowl victory over Central Michigan in 1994 but went 2-9, 1-11, 3-8 and 0-11 after that. He was fired following the 1998 season and replaced by John Robinson. There are those who think that if Horton had Robinson's budget, he would have done better.

But this is one coaching cat who keeps landing on his feet. After leaving Las Vegas, Horton became quarterbacks coach at Wisconsin, where Jim Sorgi, Brooks Bollinger and John Stocco became the first-, second- and fourth-most prolific passers in Badgers history. Horton also had two stints as an NFL assistant, with the Rams and Lions.

In the run-up to the Penn State game, Horton added "a few wrinkles" to the Minnesota game plan, such as occasionally running outside the tackles and saying multiple Hail Marys, and the Gophers enjoyed a statistical edge on the Nittany Lions. But even a pregnant Marge Gunderson knows that statistical advantages don't count for much in the Big Ten wood chipper.

Even if Minnesota shocks the world and beats one of these ranked teams, Horton expects to be packing his bags at the end of the season.

"I have no visions of grandeur about getting the head coaching job. It's not gonna happen," he said. "But this is like putting your resume out there for people to see and see what response you get."

His simple objective is to restore a little pride to the Minnesota program and restore a little dignity to its players. Then he'll move on, become part of a new community, meet new friends. It's what college football coaches do, as much a part of the game as blue-gray October skies, recruiting violations and useless halftime interviews with coaches as they leave the field.

"My reputation over 30 years speaks for itself," Horton said. "People know who I am."

After fingers were pointed Saturday, even Joe Paterno knows who he is.

Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com 702-383-0352.