Coach Horner receives 2012 NAIA assistant coach of year

Coach Horner was honored at the AstroTurf President's Kickoff Luncheon, Monday, January 7 at the 2013 AFCA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. The Award was presented to Coach Horner by Mac Brown, head football coach at the University of Texas. Coach Brown noted in his speech about how impressed he was with everything that Coach Horner does. 

Each year, staff representatives from NCAA and NAIA football-playing schools are asked to nominate an assistant for consideration. From those nominations, a winner is selected by the AFCA Public Relations Committee. The winners of this award were selected from Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III and the NAIA.

The Assistant Coach of the Year award was first presented in 1997 and was created to honor assistant coaches who excel in community service, commitment to the student-athlete, on-field coaching success and AFCA professional organization involvement. 

The 2012 honorees are as follows: 

Football Bowl Subdivision – Kirby Smart, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach, University of Alabama

Football Championship Subdivision–John Revere, Runningbacks Coach, Eastern Kentucky University

Division II–A.J. Blazek, Co-Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line/Tight Ends Coach, Winona State University

Division III–Joe Early, Offensive Coordinator, Middlebury College

NAIA–Gregg Horner, Defensive Coordinator, Valley City State University.