JIm Horner

Written By Tom Rimback, Courier Post, October 14, 2024:

It is only fitting that it came on a perfect October Saturday, iconic South Jersey football coach Jim Horner has passed away. The Paulsboro High School graduate was 85.

Horner was head coach at Haddon Heights, Cherokee and Haddonfield in a career that spanned over 55 years. Beginning with the Garnets in 1969, founding the Cherokee program in 1975 and spending seven seasons at Haddonfield from 1995 to 2002. Horner had a career head coaching record of 174-61-7, winning South Jersey titles in 1981, 1982 and 1985 at Cherokee.

Former Cherokee coach PJ Mehigan played for Horner and, later, followed in his footsteps at Cherokee.

"There is certainly an aura around Cherokee football that he created," Mehigan said. "From Day 1, so many things were amazing. One of the most amazing things to me is that the very first class of seniors, who played a full varsity schedule as juniors in '76, came back and in '77, the very first class, went to this to the sectional championship. I think that set the tone for what kind of program he expected. They were his expectations."

Those expectations were the same at Heights, at Haddonfield, in the big bowl in Evesham and far beyond. Horner never stopped coaching, no matter the assignment. Shawnee coach Tim Gushue brought Horner in and wlecomed him as part of his own staff. Horner served as an all-purpose advisor on all things football — and team culture.

"Coach forgot more football than most coaches will ever know," Gushue said. "The great thing you know was, he would still go down and help teach our freshmen new techniques. He just loved football."

Seeing Horner on a Shawnee sideline, or at Rancocas or Holy Cross may have been odd for people who knew him best at Heights or Cherokee or Haddonfield but the experience was a constant.

"I don't mind saying it, but I watched everything he did," Gushue said. "Whether your won program ever measured up to what Jim accomplished at every school but, for us, especially Cherokee. That was what we aspired to."

On Oct. 4, Horner attended Cherokee home meeting with Shawnee, a 7-3 Cherokee win that had all the hallmarks of those very first Cherokee teams nearly 50 years ago. Murad Campfield carried 39 times for 216 yards, but in the mind's eye, the current Cherokee senior could have been any great back at the school through the years.

Upwards of four dozen former players from the 1980s and beyond came together to be with their mentor.

"All the guys met him on the hill, and it was kind of like a reunion," Mehigan said. "We all wanted to get o one more game together. Right before the game, you know, both (current Cherokee coach) Brian Glatz and Tim Gushue were able to stop by and say hello. It was a nice send off for a guy who's made an impact at Heights and Haddonfield and Rutgers and Cherokee and Shawnee."

Horner, who embarked on his coaching career in 1961 as an assistant football and head wrestling coach at Northern Burlington, had assistant coaching stints at South Hunterdon and Jonathan Dayton before his first head job at Heights. After his tenure at Haddonfield, where he also served as athletic director, Horner was a football lifer who found himself coaching at Holy Cross, Camden Catholic, Cherry Hill East, Rancocas Valley, Shawnee and served in the football programs at the University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers.

Haddonfield head coach Frank DeLano was hired by Horner for his first coaching job, working under him as an assistant in 1998.  "I'm forever grateful for Coach Horner, he saw something in me that I didn't see in myself," DeLano said. "To look back and see the impact he had on so many players, so many coaches and so many communities, he had a big impact on the entire landscape of high school football in New Jersey.

"His teaching, his mentorship and his love of the game will never disappear, it will live forever."

Rick Brown played for Horner and eventually had the honor of coaching beside Horner, when Brown helmed the Camden Catholic program.

"He just loved to teach," Brown said. "When I was coaching at Camden Catholic, he came to me and said he wanted to coach the scout teams. He just wanted to teach these kids."

Among the countless thousands that were impacted by Horner's life, Curtis May coached alongside Horner at Holy Cross.  “Coach was one of a kind," May said. "He built one of the greatest programs at Cherokee and made an impact on so many lives. “Myself, PJ Mehigan and Ricky Brown all coached because of him and what he built at Cherokee. He was an absolute legend. He will be missed.”

At Rutgers, Horner served as team chaplain, among other things.

A man of faith, Horner brought that conviction to every team he coached. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes was as much a part of his programs as weight training.

"He never pushed it on anybody, but it was something that we all did," Mehigan said. "We all held hands as we walked down the hill.  "He was able to see the big picture and really know that high school sports is about more than just wins and losses. Obviously, he was incredibly successful in getting those wins, but there was a bigger focus to it. The wins were a byproduct of the culture he created."

Horner was a member of Halls of Fame for the New Jersey Football Coaches Association, South Jersey Football Coaches, South Jersey Wrestling, the Camden County Sports and the high school halls at Paulsboro, Cherokee and Haddon Heights, among others.

"That was the greatness of coach Horner, he made average players believe in the team and in themselves," May said. "He got them to achieve more than they ever could dream. To this day, any Cherokee player who was around him can tell you the three Ds: Desire, Dedication and Determination.”

Services honoring Horner will be held a Fellowship Alliance Chapel, 199 Church Road in Medford on Saturday, Oct. 19.

Relatives and friends are invited to greet the family beginning at 9 a.m. before a Celebration of his Life, which will be held at noon.

In lieu of other expressions of sympathy, the family has requested donations to the Jim Horner Scholarship Fund, PO Box 1542, Medford, NJ 08055.

Courier-Post sports editor Tom McGurk contributed to this story.

Tom Rimback grew up reading the Burlington County Times and Courier Post sports sections and began writing for the BCT in 1996. He has covered everything from Super Bowls and Final Fours to Tri-County Swimming but he’s happiest on a sideline interviewing South Jersey scholastic athletes. Follow him on twitter @Rimbacksports. Email him with story ideas at tomrimback@gmail.com