Jeff Horton

Jeff Horton (born July 13, 1957) is an American football coach. He currently is the offensive coordinator and running backs coach at San Diego State University. He was the interim head coach at the University of Minnesota, having replaced Tim Brewster, who was fired midway through the Golden Gophers' 2010 season. Horton previously served as the head coach at the University of Nevada, Reno in 1993 and at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas from 1994 to 1998. From 2006 to 2008, he a special assistant/offense and assistant offensive line coach for the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League (NFL), where he worked under head coach Scott Linehan. Horton coached the quarterbacks for the NFL's Detroit Lions in 2009.

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Horton's first coaching job was as a graduate assistant for Minnesota in 1984. The following year, he joined his alma mater as assistant in Reno. In 1990 and 1991, he was the wide receivers coach. In 1992, he left to become the Wide Receivers coach at UNLV.

Head coach at Nevada

After the 1992 football season ended, Wolf Pack head coach Chris Ault stepped down to focus on his duties as the university's athletic director. Horton was Ault's hand-picked successor, and he returned from Las Vegas to take over as head coach of the Wolf Pack. Horton lead Nevada to a 7–4 record and a second-place finish in the Big West Conference.

Head coach at UNLV

Following the 1993 season, Horton accepted the head coaching position at in-state rival UNLV, a move commonly referred to as the "Red Defection" by Wolf Pack fans. His first season, 1994, the Rebels won the Big West title and the Las Vegas Bowl, winning Horton that conference's Coach of the Year award.

However, this could not last, and Horton would win only six more games over the next three years. He was fired after the Rebels finished 0-11 in the 1998 season, to date the only winless season on the field in school history.

Wisconsin

After being fired, he was hired as the Quarterbacks coach for the Wisconsin Badgers. The quarterbacks during his tenure (Jim Sorgi, Brooks Bollinger, and John Stocco), rank 1st, 2nd, and 4th in Badgers history in passing yards.

St. Louis Rams

Horton was hired as the special assistant/offense to the St. Louis Rams. In that position, he assisted head coach Scott Linehan with administrative duties, offensive play-calling, and preparation.

Detroit Lions

Horton spent one season (2009) with the Detroit Lions as the quarterbacks coach.

Minnesota

Horton was hired by Tim Brewster in January 2010, after Jedd Fisch left to be the quarterbacks coach for the Seattle Seahawks. On October 17, 2010, Brewster was relieved of his head coaching duties. Horton was tapped to replace Brewster on an interim basis. He went 2–3 as coach, beating the Iowa Hawkeyes on November 27 to win the Floyd of Rosedale trophy. It was the first trophy-game win for the Gophers since before Brewster took over.

San Diego State University

Horton is currently the Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs Coach for San Diego State University.

Head coaching record