Nathan Horne selected as new Hillsboro Indians football head coach
The Hillsboro City Schools Board of Education voted 5-0 Monday night to accept the superintendent’s recommendation to hire Nathan Horne as head varsity football coach for the 2022 season.
Horne — formerly the varsity wrestling coach at Hillsboro — was most recently the Indians’ defensive coordinator.
“I just want to thank the board and thank Tim (Davis) for the opportunity,” Horne told The Highland County Press. “I’ve been dreaming of this spot since I was probably 8 or 9 years old, as a ball boy on the Hillsboro football field. I’m going to give it everything I’ve got — I promise the community that — and will do right by our boys.”
Former head coach Jack O’Rourke — who was with the Indians from 2016-21 — resigned as the HHS head coach following the 2021 season, finishing with 30 victories. He has since been approved as the head coach for middle school boys track and field, also on Monday night.
“I’d like to be the first to welcome Mr. Horne and his family, officially,” school board president Bill Myers said after the board’s vote. “Congratulations.”
HCS superintendent Tim Davis also congratulated Horne during his report to the board.
“I got to sit in on those interviews,” he said. “It’s very exciting. We’re looking forward to great things.”
Horne — who is a 1998 graduate of Wilmington High School, though he attended school through the 11th grade at Hillsboro — comes from a football coaching background, as his father Jim Horne is a former head coach at Hillsboro. The elder coach Horne’s teams won numerous conference championships and made multiple playoff appearances. He had a record of 100-54 during his 15-year stint as the Indians’ varsity head coach.
Also in his football coaching background, Horne was an assistant football coach at Fayetteville for one season and has been on the Hillsboro varsity coaching staff for nine seasons.
As the varsity wrestling coach, Horne coached Hillsboro wrestlers to the state wrestling tournament during his decade tenure as the head coach.
Last season, the Indians football team finished with a 4-6 record overall with a 1-4 record in the Frontier Athletic Conference.
“I think football’s a great sport. When I was in school, basketball players came together, wrestlers came together, track athletes came together, and we all played together,” Horne said. “I think that’s one of the great things about football is that lots of different people can come and be a part of the same team. I look forward to leading the program for our community and am excited to get started.”
Horne and his wife, Allyce, have two daughters, Kennedy and Harper, both of whom are Hillsboro Elementary students.