N.C. State tight ends coach Don Horton is stepping away from coaching but will remain on the Wolfpack staff as the assistant director of football operations, head coach Tom O'Brien announced today.
“It is with great excitement that I approach the next step in my professional career in athletic administration,” Horton said in a statement released by the university. “Coach O’Brien and NC State Athletics have offered my family and me a great opportunity to become involved in the administration and I am extremely grateful. I would like to thank all those who have made this next step possible.”
Horton began his coaching career 30 years ago as an Ohio State graduate assistant in 1982. Horton made coaching stops at nine other schools and joined O'Brien's staff at Boston College in 1997 and came to Raleigh with him in 2007 to coach the Wolfpack offensive line.
“I am thrilled to have Coach Horton continue in his career here at NC State,” O'Brien said in a statement. “As a member of our staff for the past 15 years, he has been more than an excellent football coach. He has also has done a tremendous job developing young men and setting high standards when it comes to hard work and how to do things the right way.
“In his new role, he will continue to benefit everyone associated with this football program, and we are as excited about this opportunity as he is.”
Assistant sports editor Lorenzo Perez has bounced back-and-forth between The News & Observer's news and sports department several times since joining the newspaper in 1999. His latest assignment has him working with The N&O's ACC writers and online news. E-mail