asumike83 wrote:Kgfish wrote:
You would be wise to hold such comments when you don't know the real story. As recruiting coordinator Horton was the only hold over from Houston Nutt's staff. Tim is an Arkansas grad and loves his coaching at his school. I think you will agree coaching running backs at an SEC school is a fairly tough gig to get and I'm sure you would have walked away from it on principle. Tim Horton has more integrity and class in his little finger than most people do in their entire body. He is also one of the hardest working assistant coaches in the country and was recognized by Rivals.com and ESPN.com as one of the top recruiters in the nation. You guys are lamenting over losing a person of character like Coach Moore but don't realize a guy just like him is wanting to come back to Boone and carry on Coach Moore's legacy.
Hasn't advanced very far? Going to the Mtn West from ASU is a bigger jump than what Scott accomplished in two stops. You must think jumping BACK to FCS from FBS is more impressive than going from Air Force to Arkansas. He has coached under some of the best coaches in college football. Frank Broyles, Ken Hatfield, Fisher DeBerry, Bill Snyder, Houston Nutt and Petrino - who is a jerk but a smart football coach. Coaching in the Big XII, Mountain West and SEC is a tad more daunting than a couple of years at Toledo and FIU or two years coaching offensive line coach at South Carolina. Good luck trying to convince people Satterfield's or Elliot's experience is more impressive than Horton's.
Kgfish, I believe you and I have had a disagreement or two before but I agree 100% with your comments on Tim Horton. He is a very classy guy who I feel is perfectly qualified to lead our program into a possible FBS transition.
Devaluing him because he worked under Petrino for a few years is extremely unfair. The blame for Bobby Petrino wasting school funds on his mistress falls on one person, Bobby Petrino. Horton is a good man that any of us would be proud to have represent Appalachian State.
As you mentioned, he is regarded as one of the top recruiters in the nation. The value in having one of the top recruiters in the country with experience in the most powerful conference in college football would be immense. He is very well connected and would carry a lot of weight on the recruiting trail.
Also, it is worth noting that he has a great relationship with Scott Satterfield. He was on the coaching staff all four years Scott played at Appalachian and they were on the staff together for one season in 1998. I don't think anybody wants Satterfield gone, there is nobody I'd rather have running the offense and I think it is safe to say that Horton feels the same. Bringing him in would likely leave the offensive staff (which I am quite fond of) intact and provide some continuity on that side of the ball while allowing him to make the necessary changes on defense.
There has been a lot of debate about whether we should go with an "App guy" like SS or Elliott who played at ASU and learned under Coach Moore or an outsider. I think Horton is the perfect middle ground. He got his start under Jerry in 1990, loves Appalachian and the Boone area but has spent 14 years away from the program coaching in the FBS ranks.
Whether the search will go beyond Satterfield and Elliott remains to be seen but not giving Horton a look would be a shame, because he is an excellent candidate.