The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Jeff Horton

Jeff Horton held Minnesota at National Program III for 1 season.

The ascent
22–51
1993–2010 · 3 stints
NevadaUNLVMinnesota
← all coaches

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerNEVADAUNLVMINNESOTANational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelNevada, 1993: 7-4, Regional Program I1993+1.5UNLV, 1994: 7-5, Regional Program V1994UNLV, 1995: 2-9, Regional Program V1995UNLV, 1996: 1-11, Regional Program V1996UNLV, 1997: 3-8, Regional Program V1997UNLV, 1998: 0-11, Regional Program V1998-1.6Minnesota, 2010: 2-3, National Program III2010-1.7One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached National Program in his 7th career season — faster than 9% of the 675 FBS coaches who have ever reached National Program (rank #597 of 675 by seasons-to-arrival).

UNLV, 5 seasons
−1.6
Regional Program V → Regional Program V.

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

3–6 against his rivals. Winless in 3 tries against Barry Alvarez.

Rivalry record
3–6
33.3% · 3 rivals
One-score games
9–11
45.0% · margin ≤8
Rivalry ledger
Nevada1–420%
Hawai'i1–233%
UNLV1–0100%
The toughest matchup
vs. Barry Alvarez0–3
3 meetings, 1993–1998
’93 L’96 L’98 L
0% win rate across a real, 3-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.
Performance by opponent class
Power Program
0–5 0.0%
National Program
1–16 5.9%
Regional Program
15–25 37.5%

Coaching career

2010–2010
Minnesotacaretaker
National Program III → National Program III
Jeff Horton held Minnesota at National Program III for 1 season.

12th-best Minnesota tenure of 15 by the numbers.

Succeeded by Jerry Kill (2011–2015).

Where the roster comes from, by position
Grows Tackle from high school
100%
#198 of 223 stints
Grows D-line from high school
100%
#214 of 239 stints

2 NFL Draft picks: Eric Decker (2010), Nathan Triplett (2010)

2–3
1994–1998
UNLVcaretaker
Regional Program V → Regional Program V
Jeff Horton held UNLV at Regional Program V for 5 seasons.

11th-best UNLV tenure of 12 by the numbers.

Followed Jim Strong (1990–1993) · succeeded by John Robinson (1999–2004).

4 NFL Draft picks: Jerry Reynolds (1994), Henry Bailey (1995), Mike Crawford (1997), Talance Sawyer (1999)

13–44
1993–1993
Nevadacaretaker
Regional Program II → Regional Program I
Jeff Horton moved Nevada from Regional Program II to Regional Program I in 1 season.

6th-best Nevada tenure of 11 by the numbers.

2 NFL Draft picks: Forey Duckett (1993), Brock Marion (1993)

7–4