Horton, Rebels bid farewells after winless season

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Nov. 23, 1998 | 10:12 a.m.

Jeff Horton may not be leaving UNLV with a lot of football victories, but if Sunday's team banquet at the Sam's Town Hotel was any indication, he's departing with a whole lot of friends and admirers.

The three-hour program featured several standing ovations from the overflow crowd of 400 for Horton, who coached his final game for the Rebels Saturday, a 41-18 loss to TCU at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Still, despite the fact UNLV just finished its first winless season (0-11) in school history and will carry a 16-game losing streak in the 1999 season, many of the players and coaches who spoke made it clear that they were glad to have been apart of Horton's program the last five years.

"The feeling here from all the kids and their parents makes it all worthwhile," Horton said after exchanging hugs and tears with players, coaches and parents afterward.

Horton, 41, who cleaned out most of his belongings in his Lied Athletic Complex office on Friday night, said he was going to spend the next couple of weeks trying to decide which direction to continue his career. He said after Saturday's loss that he had been told by a coaching colleague "not to rush" in making a decision about his coaching future. And Horton, a popular fixture in the Las Vegas community, said he would also consider athletic director Charles Cavagnaro's offer to take a development job in the athletic department.

"I love it here, I have great friends here, and I love the school," Horton said. "And I always wanted to get into (athletic) administration."

Although there were several emotional moments during the banquet, probably the biggest was when Horton went to thank his wife, Teri, for her support.

"And of course, my No. 1 fan, who through thick and thin ...," Horton said, his voice cracking. Then after pausing for a few seconds, Horton added, "Coaches don't cry, their eyes just sweat a little bit sometimes. ... I consider myself a great recruiter because I got myself a Division I (wife) for just a Division III kind of guy."

Senior defensive end Talance Sawyer, who for the second straight year led the WAC Conference in tackles for losses (22 for 66 yards), was named the team's most valuable player as well as its defensive player of the year.

Sophomore running back James Wofford, on crutches after suffering a severe ankle sprain in Saturday's game, was voted the team's offensive MVP. Wofford finished 10th in rushing in the WAC with 816 yards on 173 carries (4.7 avg.) and five touchdowns.

Horton was also presented with a special Rebel Football Foundation Award for his contributions to the program.

Other award winners included:

Team Captains: Greg Gales, Damon Williams, Sawyer, Kevin Crook, Bubba Gonzalez, James Sunia; Kodak Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year: Tony Terrell; Kodak Scout Team Defensive Player of the Year: Bill Cofer; Rene Arceneaux Award: Derrick Monroe; Scholar Athletes of the Year: Chad Reed, Mike Reily; Randy Brewer Coaches Award: Jerald Pierucci, Sam Mineo; Jack Gilmore Coaches Award: Anthony Brown; Bill "Wildcat" Morris Most Inspirational Award: James Sunia; Special Teams Players of the Year: Joe Kristosik, B.J. Edwards; "Doc" Tobler Award: Ted Darnell.

Screening Committee Meeting

UNLV athletic director Charles Cavagnaro, who unlike school president Dr. Carol Harter attended the banquet, said that a screening committee to help with the selection of Horton's replacement would hold it's first meeting today.

"We're going to kind of lay the groundwork for the selection procedure," Cavagnaro said, adding that 13 people had been picked to be on the committee. "We'll go over the perameters we would like to have in a new coach and things like that."

Cavagnaro said he didn't expect any actual interviewing of candidates until early December.

"I think it will be at least a couple of weeks before we go down that road," he said. "This week is a short week with the (Thanksgiving) holiday and everything which also slows down the process a bit."

Denton suspension

It was somewhat ironic that on the day Horton coached his final football game for UNLV, former Rebel quarterback star Jon Denton was suspended by Eastern Kentucky for its game on Saturday.

Denton was booted out of UNLV in July following two suspensions in less than a year. His loss was crucial to quarterback-thin UNLV's fortunes this year. With Denton, who set 10 NCAA offensive records his freshman year, UNLV could have arguably won four or five games.

"Coaches have to make those decisions," running back James Wofford replied when asked if Horton did the right thing in sending Denton packing. "If a player doesn't want to abide by team rules and go as a team, then that player must leave no matter who it is."

"To me it's all water under the bridge," Horton said when asked if Denton's loss may have hastened his departure. "I made that decision and have to live with it."

He's No. 1

Senior punter Joe Kristosik, a Bishop Gorman product, all but locked up the NCAA punting title with a 46.3 average on seven punts in Saturday's loss.

The 6-3, 220-pound Kristosik averaged 46.2 yards for the season on a school-record 78 punt attempts. Not bad for someone who wasn't even offered a Division I scholarship coming out of high school and who narrowly didn't make it back for his senior year after averaging just 37.8 yards as a junior.

"If I win it, I'll be the happiest person alive," Kristosik said. "It's something I dreamed of."

Arizona State's Stephen Baker (45.31) still has a very slim chance of catching Kristosik with a big game against Arizona on Friday.

"The big difference this year is I just went out there and relaxed," Kristosik said. "And I've gotten good coaching, good blocking and great snapping by (long snapper) Mike Leatham. I don't think I got a bad snap all year long. That's very key."