George HortonHead Coach University of Oregon |
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When Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny announced the reinstatement of the University of Oregon’s baseball program in July 2007, the reaction among Duck supporters and baseball fans in the community was one of resounding excitement and anticipation. That level of emotion shot through the roof when former College World Series championship skipper and two-time National Coach of the Year George Horton was announced as Oregon’s new head coach on Sept. 1, 2007.
Horton, who spent 11 seasons at the helm of national power Cal State Fullerton and led the Titans to the 2004 National Championship, is the Ducks’ 12th baseball coach in school history and it’s first since the program was discontinued following the 1981 season. “This is a tremendous day for the University of Oregon,” Kilkenny said upon Horton's hiring. “Baseball coaches of George Horton’s distinction and ability don’t come along very often, and his decision to come to Eugene speaks volumes about our commitment for Oregon baseball to become successful on a national level.” During his tenure with the Titans, Horton compiled an overall record of 490-212-1 (.698) and oversaw six appearances in the College World Series, including back-to-back berths in 2006 and 2007 as well as 2003 and ‘04. He was named National Coach of the Year by Baseball America in 2003, and garnered the ABCA and Collegiate Baseball National awards following his squad’s title run in 2004. Horton was also a five-time Big West Conference Coach of the Year, most recently earning the hardware in 2006 on the heels of his third 50-win season at the Division I level. “To see what he has built and accomplished at Cal State Fullerton is incredible,” Kilkenny said. “Coach Horton has put together and elite program and posted an outstanding record on the playing field, but he also develops student-athletes as both players and people.” The 54-year-old Cal State Fullerton graduate spent six years as an assistant coach at his alma mater under legendary college baseball coach Augie Garrido before succeeding him in 1997. Horton was the current Texas skipper’s associate head coach, helping CSF to the 1995 National Championship. Prior to joining Garrido’s staff, Horton spent six years as the head coach at Cerritos College, compiling a junior college record of 226-53 (.810) from 1985-90. Horton’s teams have reached a No. 1 ranking in national polls in part(s) of the 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 seasons. His .698 winning percentage ranks in the top 10 among active Division I coaches (minimum five years). Of the 29 teams Horton has faced five or more times - many of which are nationally prominent - only two (Stanford and Wichita State) have managed winning records against him. Horton, who is one of nine men to have appeared in Omaha as a player (1975) and a Head Coach, has seen 75 players selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Draft, including 11 in 2003 and 14 in 2005. Four of the last six draft classes have contained at least nine of Horton’s players and he has coached 11 players taken in the top five rounds. In addition, 20 former Titans have ascended to the Major Leagues during Horton’s 17 years at Cal State Fullerton. Southpaw Ricky Romero (Toronto, 2005) became the third first-round pick taken under Horton’s reign, joining Chad Cordero (Montreal, 2003) and Adam Johnson (Minnesota, 2000) on the list of players taken in the opening round of the Major League Amateur Draft. Other standouts taken in the draft include Aaron Rowand, who was a “sandwich” pick going between the first and second rounds in 1998; Shane Costa, a second-rounder in 2003; and battery mates Kurt Suzuki and Jason Windsor, who were taken in the second and third rounds, respectively, on the first day of the 2004 draft. In 2007, Horton’s Cal State Fullerton team recovered from an up-and-down regular season to sweep through the NCAA regional and super regional rounds and land a spot in the CWS. The Titans drew eventual champion Oregon State and runner-up UC Irvine in Omaha, falling by one run in each contest, including a 13-inning crusher to the Anteaters. No team in baseball had a better pitching staff than the Titans in 2006, as they led the nation with a 2.73 ERA en route to a 50-15 ledger. The Titans’ success in 2006 featured an 18-3 league record to give CSF its third straight conference crown. Horton’s streak of coaching consecutive conference Players of the Year reached four as Justin Turner joined Sergio Pedroza (2005), Kurt Suzuki (2004) and Shane Costa (2003). He also looked after three straight Conference Pitchers of the Year in Wes Roemer (2006), Ricky Romero (2005) and Jason Windsor (2004); and had two players in four years (Roemer in 2006 and Suzuki in 2004) earn National Player of the Year recognition. In 2005, Horton narrowly missed a fifth trip to Omaha as Arizona State defeated his squad, 9-8, in the third and final game of the Fullerton Super Regional. 2005 marked the year Horton molded the largest Major League draft class of his coaching tenure, as 14 players were selected in the first-year amateur draft. The 2005 draft class included No. 1 draft pick in Ricky Romero. Horton added the most impressive credential to his resume in 2004, bringing home a national title. In his eighth year as a Division I head coach, Horton led CSF past the Texas Longhorns and his mentor Garrido, 3-2, in Omaha. After a mediocre 15-16 start in 2004, Horton enlisted Sports Psychologist Dr. Ken Ravizza to clear the heads of the slumping troops. In storybook fashion, the team went on to finish an all-time best 19-2 in the Big West and win 27 of their next 32 games to reach the Series. Horton scripted a brilliant season in 2003, guiding Fullerton to a 15-1 start and leading the team to a program-best record of 31-3 at home. After sweeping through the home Regional, the Titans beat Arizona State - the top offensive team in the country - in a Super Regional to advance to Omaha. Fullerton got off to a 2-0 record in Omaha before to losses against Stanford, which headed on to the championship series. Horton’s team finished as the consensus No. 3 team in the nation for the second time in three years. For his efforts, Horton was named the National Coach of the Year by Baseball America, the highest reputed baseball publication. He was honored in December at the 2003 Baseball Winter Meetings in New Orleans. Horton's CSF squad also made the trip to Omaha in 2001, when they carried the national No. 1 seed to Rosenblatt Stadium. After holding off local favorite Nebraska in the opener, the Titans lost a pair to Stanford with a win over Tulane in between. His team still finished No. 3 in all three national polls. Under Horton's eye, the 2001 squad became the first team ever to sweep a three-game series against Miami (the eventual national champions) on the ‘Canes’ home field. His 2000 team, the unanimous preseason pick to win the conference and the consensus No. 2 team in the country, was the Big West co-champion and hosted a Regional for the first time. In 1999, the Horton’s Titans went 25-5 to win conference crown by four games. They swept three games at the Notre Dame Regional and then triumphed in three games in the Super Regional at Ohio State to qualify for the College World Series, where they went 1-2. In 1998, the Titans posted the best record in the conference at 25-5. They placed second at the LSU Regional, going 3-2 with a pair of losses to the host Tigers. In Horton's debut season in 1997, Fullerton struggled to a 23-19-1 start, but then rattled off 15 victories in their final 18 regular season games. They lost the opener of the Big West Conference tournament at home to Pacific ace Dan Reichert, but came back to win four games in a row. They swept a doubleheader on the final day against host Long Beach State to capture the automatic NCAA tournament bid. Horton's Division I head coaching career began when he was promoted to replace Garrido, who left to take over the program at the University of Texas. A 1978 CSF graduate, Horton had returned to the campus in 1991 and over the next six seasons helped lead the Titans to a 264-99 record and three trips to the CWS, where they won the 1995 crown with a 57-9 season. During the years Horton was responsible for the pitching staff, nine pitchers received All-America honors and James Popoff (1992), Matt Wagner (1994) and Ted Silva (1995) won Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year honors. Dan Naulty became the first pitcher under Horton's guidance to reach the major leagues when he made the 1996 opening-day roster for the Minnesota Twins. He later earned a World Series ring with the 1999 New York Yankees. Another Horton product, Brent Billingsley, made two appearances for the Florida Marlins early in the 1999 season. 20 former players, both pitchers and position players, have ascended to the Major Leagues during Horton's 16-year NCAA coaching career, 13 of whom played in "the show" in 2006. Chad Cordero (2005 MLB saves leader and all-star with the Nationals), Shane Costa (Royals), Brandon Duckworth (Royals), Reed Johnson (Blue Jays), Mark Kotsay (A's), Mike Lamb (Astros), Phil Nevin (Rangers, Cubs and Twins), Aaron Rowand (Phillies), Kirk Saarloos (A's), and Matt Wise (Brewers) each played for at least their second season in 2006 while Mike Rouse (A's), Jason Windsor (A's) and Wes Littleton (Rangers) all made their major league debut. Nevin and Kotsay were both Golden Spikes Award winners, national players of the year, No. 1 draft picks, College World Series MVPs and U.S. Olympians. Brian Loyd and Jason Moler - also tutored in part by Horton - were Olympians while Kotsay was chosen as the college player of the decade (1990's) by Baseball America. Sixteen U.S. National Team members have also been pupils of Horton's, with Nevin (1991) being the first, and Wes Roemer (2006) becoming the latest to don the red, white and blue. Horton began his head coaching career at Cerritos College in Norwalk, Calif., where he guided the Falcons to three junior college state championships in six years. He compiled a 226-53 record and won the California titles in 1985, 1987 and 1989. Each of those years he was selected National Junior College Coach of the Year. His best season was 1987 when the Falcons went 46-5. He had a South Coast Conference record of 102-28 (.785) and was a four-time South Coast Conference Coach of the Year (1985, 1987, 1989 and 1990). He had many players graduate to the Major Leagues including Brian Hunter, who played for the Atlanta Braves in the 1991 World Series. Other names include Mike Benjamin, Craig Worthington, Ever Magallanes, Al Osuna, Joel Adamson, Dan Patterson, Luis Medina, Jeff Hearron, Naulty and Olympian Bret Barberie. Horton’s coaching career began as an assistant at Cerritos in 1976-77 and he went to Los Angeles Valley College the following three seasons, where he coached with former Long Beach State Coach Dave Snow. In 1980, he moved back to Cerritos as an assistant to Gordie Douglas before taking the head job in 1985. In addition, he coached during the summer for the Fairbanks (AK) Goldpanners (1981 and 1983) and the Hutchinson (KS) Broncs (1982). Among those who played for him on those summer teams were Shane Mack, Oddibe McDowell, Joe Magrane, Dan Plesac, Phil Stevenson, Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds. Horton was a player on the Cerritos College teams in 1972 and 1973. As the Falcons' team captain in 1973, he won the Dallas Moon Award and was a member of the state championship team. Horton played two seasons for Garrido at Cal State Fullerton in 1975 and 1976 and won All-PCAA honors as both a junior and a senior. He was on the first Fullerton team to go to the College World Series in 1975. He batted .308 as a junior and .290 as a senior while playing first base. In 1994, Horton was inducted into the California Community College Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He also was inducted into the Downey High School Hall of Fame in May of 2003 and was honored in 2005 with the Orange County Manager of the Year Award, given by the Orange Coast Chapter of the Society for Advancement of Management. Horton earned his bachelor’s degree from Cal State Fullerton in 1978 and a master’s from Cal Lutheran in 1980. Born on Oct. 5, 1953, he and his wife, Francie, have four daughters: Michele, Heather, Loyal and Rebecca, and two granddaughters: Angelica and Alyssa. |
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