Baseball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Oregon:
- 11th Year
- Division I:
- 22nd Year
- National Championship:
- 2004
- MLB Draft Picks:
- 132
Honors:
2016 USA Baseball Rod Dedeaux Coach of the Year
2012 Field Turf NCAA Division I Coach of the Year
2006 Big West Conference Coach of the Year
2005 Big West Conference Coach of the Year
2004 Collegiate Baseball National Coach of the Year
2004 ABCA National Coach of the Year
2004 Big West Conference Coach of the Year
2003 Baseball America National Coach of the Year
1999 Big West Conference Coach of the Year
1998 Big West Conference Coach of the Year
1990 CCCBCA Coach of the Year
1990 South Coast Conference Coach of the Year
1989 National Junior College Coach of the Year
1989 South Coast Conference Coach of the Year
1987 National Junior College Coach of the Year
1987 South Coast Conference Coach of the Year
1985 National Junior College Coach of the Year
1985 South Coast Conference Coach of the Year
Hall of Fame:
Cal State Fullerton
California Community College Baseball Coaches Association
Downey High School
In 10 seasons at the University of Oregon, George Horton has resurrected a dormant Ducks’ baseball program and built it into a national power. During his tenure with the Ducks, Horton carries a 346-249-1 record (.581) and has led Oregon to the postseason five times, including four of the last seven seasons. Horton, hired in September 2007, is the Ducks’ 12th baseball coach in school history and its first since the program was discontinued following the 1981 season. Overall, Horton has a 1,062-514-2 record (.674) as a head coach and a record of 836-461-2 (.652) in 21 seasons as a Division I head coach.
Under Horton, Oregon made its first modern-era NCAA appearance in just its second season of existence, playing in the NCAA Regionals in 2010. The Ducks topped that effort in 2012, advancing to their first Super Regional and finishing just one win shy of advancing to the College World Series. The successful season by Oregon landed Horton the 2012 Field Turf NCAA Division I Coach of the Year award. UO reached the NCAA Regionals in 2013, 2014 and 2015, winning a school-record 48 games in 2013. From 2012 to 2014, Oregon was just one of eight teams to win 40-plus games in all three seasons. Horton has won at least 40 games in 11 different seasons, including a pair of 50-win seasons. The Ducks came up just shy of the 40-win mark in 2015, but still boasted 38 wins and reached the NCAA tournament after winning 14 of their last 18 games and nine of their last 10 – including a series win over No. 2 UCLA – to earn an at-large bid.
While at Oregon, Horton has coached six players to seven All-America selections (Tyler Anderson - 2011, Ryon Healy - 2013, Jimmie Sherfy – 2013 and 2014, Stephen Nogosek – 2016, David Peterson – 2017 and Kenyon Yovan – 2017), 47 all-conference players, 10 collegiate national team players and 48 Major League Baseball draft picks. Pitchers Tyler Anderson, drafted in the first round of the 2011 MLB Draft (20th overall) by the Colorado Rockies, and David Peterson, drafted in the first round of the 2017 MLB Draft (20th overall) by the New York Mets, were the highest Duck taken in the new era of Oregon baseball. Additionally, the Ducks have had one second-round pick (Madison Boer - 2011), two third-round picks (Garrett Cleavinger - 2015 and Healy - 2013), two fourth-round picks (Josh Graham - 2015 and Matt Krook - 2016) and four fifth-round picks (Scott McGough - 2011, Jake Reed – 2014, Cole Irvin – 2016 and Matt Mercer - 2018).
Prior to Oregon, Horton spent 11 seasons at the helm of national power Cal State Fullerton and led the Titans to the 2004 National Championship. Overall, Horton posted a record of 490-212-1 (.698) with the Titans, and oversaw six appearances in the College World Series, including a pair of back-to-back berths (2003 and 2004, 2006 and 2007). He was named National Coach of the Year by Baseball America in 2003, and garnered the ABCA and Collegiate Baseball National awards following his squad’s title run in 2004. He was also a five-time Big West Conference Coach of the Year. Before taking the reins at CSF, Horton worked for six years as an assistant coach for the Titans under legendary college baseball coach Augie Garrido before succeeding him 1997.
Horton also served six years as the head coach at Cerritos College before joining the Titans’ staff, compiling a junior college record of 226-53 (.810) from 1985-90.
Horton, who is one of 17 men to have appeared in Omaha as a player (1975) and a head coach, has seen 132 players selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Draft over his 21 years as a Division I head coach. Of that number, 35 have ascended to the Major Leagues. The most notable among that group include Chad Cordero (Montreal, 2003), Khris Davis (Milwaukee, 2013), Brandon Duckworth (Philadelphia, 2001), Reed Johnson (Toronto, 2003), Mark Kotsay (Chicago White Sox, 2006), Mike Lamb (Texas, 2000), Phil Nevin (Houston, 1995), Vinnie Pestano (Cleveland, 2010), Ricky Romero (Toronto, 2009), Aaron Rowand (San Francisco, 2006), Kirk Saarloos (Houston, 2002), Kurt Suzuki (Oakland, 2007) and Justin Turner (Baltimore, 2009).
In 2015, McGough became the first Duck of the new era of Oregon baseball to reach the Major Leagues when the pitcher was called up to the Miami Marlins in late August. Anderson became Horton’s second Ducks’ big leaguer when the Rockies called him up in June 2016, and Healy became the third a month later when the Athletics promoted him. Jimmie Sherfy joined the group in August 2017 when he joined the Diamondbacks.
In addition to the players who have gone on to play at the professional level, Horton has also had 57 former players or assistants, including five current Division I head coaches, who have landed coaching jobs at various levels.
Horton has also coached 23 players that have competed for the U.S. National Team. Nine of those have come from Horton’s Oregon teams, with pitcher Kenyon Yovan becoming the latest to don the red, white and blue. Horton earned the USA Baseball Rod Dedeaux Coach of the Year Award after serving as the head coach for the 2016 Collegiate National Team and was a member of the U.S. coaching staff in 2012.
Horton was a player on the Cerritos College teams in 1972 and 1973. As the Falcons’ team captain in 1973, he won the Dallas Moon Award and was a member of the state championship team. Horton played two seasons for Garrido at Cal State Fullerton in 1975 and 1976 and earned All-PCAA honors as both a junior and a senior. He was on the first Fullerton team to go to the College World Series in 1975.
In 1994, Horton was inducted into the California Community College Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He also was inducted into the Downey High School Hall of Fame in May of 2003 and was honored in 2005 with the Orange County Manager of the Year Award, given by the Orange Coast Chapter of the Society for Advancement of Management. In October 2013, Horton was inducted into the Cal State Fullerton Hall of Fame as part of the 1995 team before being inducted in 2017 as an individual.
Horton earned his bachelor’s degree from Cal State Fullerton in 1978 and a master’s from Cal Lutheran in 1980. He and his wife, Francie, have four daughters: Michele, Heather, Loyal and Rebecca, seven granddaughters: Angelica, Alyssa, Kailey, Kendall, Samantha, Calise and Dakoda, and two grandsons: Joseph and Gunner.
MAJOR LEAGUE PLAYERS
Oregon
Tyler Anderson
Ryon Healy
Scott McGough
Jimmie Sherfy
Cal State Fullerton
Brent Billingsley
Frank Charles
Chad Cordero
Shane Costa
Blake Davis
Khris Davis
Jordan De Jong
Dustin Garneau
Jeremy Giambi
Bret Hemphill
Adam Johnson
Reed Johnson
Mark Kotsay
Mike Lamb
Wes Littleton
Brian Loyd
Dan Naulty
Phil Nevin
Vinnie Pestano
Brett Pill
Dante Powell
Erasmo Ramirez
Ricky Romero
Mike Rouse
Aaron Rowand
Kirk Saarloos
Justin Turner
Steve Sisco
Kurt Suzuki
Jason Windsor
Matt Wise
Cerritos College
Joel Adamson
Bret Barberie
Mike Benjamin
Brian Hunter
Quinn Mack
Ever Magallanes
Dan Naulty
Al Osuna
Dan Patterson
Craig Worthington
L.A. Valley
Doug Baker
