Terry Horan
Football
Head Coach
Alma Mater: Concordia College, 1989
Phone: 218-299-3499
e-mail coach Horan

As Concordia head coach Terry Horan begins his seventh season all signs point to Horan’s tenure being one of the best in the storied history of the Concordia football program. At the end of the 2005 season Horan eclipsed a couple of career-win milestones that have never been achieved in Cobber coaching history. With Concordia’s victory over Coe College in the first round of the NCAA playoffs, Horan earned his 40th career win, becoming the first coach in Concordia football history to win 40 games in his first five seasons of play. Horan also guided Concordia to the postseason for the second consecutive season in 2005 – the first time any Cobber football team has ever achieved back-to-back playoff appearances.

In his first six seasons of leading Concordia back to the top of the MIAC, Horan has been named MIAC Coach of the Year twice (2002 and 2004) and was named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Region Coach of the Year in 2004. The 2007 season begins with another group of players that is over 140 strong. Not only has Horan added quantity since taking over in 2001, but he has added a stable of high-quality players as well. He has routinely recruited athletes who have been offered NCAA scholarship money from Division I and II programs and showed them the benefit of the Concordia tradition.

The coming out party for Horan and the Cobbers on the national and conference scene came in 2004 when Concordia captured their first outright MIAC championship since the 1986 season with a perfect 8-0 mark. The team finished the year with an 11-1 overall record and was ranked in the top 25 in the nation for most of the season. All told, Concordia has spent 28 consecutive weeks in the top 25 of Division III.

In his first six seasons, Horan has compiled a 35-14 conference record and a 44-20 overall mark.

Horan succeeded Christopherson who retired after 32 years as Concordia's head coach. Before coming to Concordia Horan was the head football coach at Breckenridge High School for six years.

A 1989 graduate of Concordia, Horan began his coaching career in 1991 as an assistant coach at Breckenridge. In the fall of 1993 he took over as head coach and guided the Cowboys to three state tournament appearances in the four years, from 1993-96, he coached. During that time Breckenridge reached the state title game in 1995 and was a semi-finalist in 1994 & '96. In 1997, he returned to Concordia to serve as wide receivers coach and athletic recruiting coordinator. After two years he proceeded to move back to Breckenridge to become the dean of students at the middle school and resume his head coaching duties at the high school. In his two stints as head coach at Breckenridge his teams amassed a 56-15 record and he was named Section Coach of the Year three times and Heart-O'-Lakes Coach of the Year three times.

Horan was an All-American while playing at Concordia from 1985-88. He still holds the school record for most touchdowns in a single season as well as reception, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns for a career and he is also the second all-time scoring leader for the Cobbers. He was a three-time All-MIAC performer and garnered All-American status in his senior year. Horan was also an All-MIAC baseball player in 1989 and had a career batting average of over .350.

Horan is only the eighth football coach in the school's 81 seasons of collegiate football. Before Horan, Christopherson had been the head coach since 1969 when he took over the position from Hall of Fame coach Jake Christiansen. During the 32 years under Christopherson's tutelage, the Cobbers won two national championships and captured the MIAC crown 11 times.
Horan and wife Michelle, a 1992 Concordia graduate, live in Moorhead with their four children - Meghan, Thomas, Tate and newborn Annie.

Quotable Horan

Cobber head coach Terry Horan on what he likes most about the profession of coaching:
“Each and every day I have an opportunity to make a difference in the life of a young man. The influence you can have on every individual is a tremendous responsibility and one that I cherish every day.”

Horan on what makes Concordia so special:
“The opportunity to get a first-rate education and at the same time play within a tradition-rich athletic program. Everyone at Concordia is committed to helping young people succeed. The atmosphere on the campus is truly special.

Cobber head coach Terry Horan on his favorite aspect of Concordia:
“I enjoy the fact that all the people that make up the Concordia community are very friendly and they care about others.”

On what he is most proud of about his first five years on the job:
“I would have to say that it is the recruitment of the student/athletes and the retention of those players once they come to Concordia. We have worked really hard at it and it shows in the quality of kids we are getting to come into the program and then stick around for all four years. I am proud in the way our staff has worked in getting the exceptional high school athletes to choose Concordia as their option for college.”

On the position of the program after his first five years:
“I am incredibly competitive so I wanted to win right away in the first year. I knew it would take some time to get to the point where we are today. The first year we only had 11 or 12 seniors and this year we have 26. For me, the five year plan was to be dominated by the seniors and juniors in ever facet of the game – on offense, defense and on special teams. You will need freshmen and sophomores as well but if you can have a football team that is dominated in every position by a senior or junior, you’ll have a guy who has had a ton of experience and will be able to perform at a high level in the big games – and that is what I want. The teams that win the MIAC and advance to the national playoffs, and then the teams that win the national title, are the ones that are dominated by seniors and juniors.”

On his goals for the next five years:
“When you start having the seasons that we have been having, you start building your own monster. You are constantly telling yourself to go out and work a little harder. You are never satisfied. I guess I won’t be satisfied until we win a national championship and even then you are not satisfied until you win another one. It never stops. There is still a lot of room to grow. We need to continue to be successful on the field and in the classroom and show that this is not a one-hit wonder and is just a continuation of a great tradition. I hope in the next five years we can continue to keep climbing and keep getting better.”

On whether or not he is starting to slow down after the first six seasons:
“For me, every year I get more and more excited. The fire burns more intensely to go out and coach the young men that come to Concordia. Also, the chance to be with our outstanding staff keeps me energized all the time. I’ve been coaching for over 15 years now, not all in the college ranks, but the fire is still there and I have even more passion for the game than I did when I first started. I am so fired up for this season and I can’t wait for that first meeting with the players and the first time we step out onto the practice field.”

On why he has been so successful at recruiting:
“Our program is rich in tradition and we have been able to put that in the forefront the past two seasons with the MIAC championship and the return to the national playoffs. The media exposure we have been blessed with, and our name recognition, has helped us get in the door with a lot of the top end athletes. There is a buzz around here that is pretty exciting to be a part of.”

On the 140-plus players coming into training camp:
“When I was recruiting coordinator under Jim Christopherson I’ll never forget him saying to recruits, parents and the media that a college football program that has over 100 men is a program that is in good health. That is where we are at – we are in good health. Football is a numbers game. The high numbers doesn’t bother me at all. We have a great staff and have plenty of coaches to take care of all the student/athletes.”