Veteran G.W. Long football coach Scott Horne announces retirement

Horne, who amassed 96 wins with two state semifinal teams in guiding G.W. Long’s football program since the middle of the 2008 season, announced Thursday that he is retiring, ending a coaching and teaching career that began in 1997.

Horne, who is also Long’s athletic director and a weight room teacher, handed in his retirement papers late Wednesday. He will remain on staff until June 1.

The retirement ends the winningest coaching era in G.W. Long’s football history and also the current longest tenure of a head football coach at one school in the Wiregrass.

“I have 25 years in and I have some other business opportunities that I started working in,” Horne said. “It is just time to start doing more stuff with my family. Twenty-five years is a long time to coach.”

In addition to coaching at G.W. Long since the fall of 2004, Horne was an assistant coach at Pike County (1997-98) and at Daleville (1998-99 through 2003-04 academic year). He also coached girls basketball for four years at Daleville and boys basketball at both Daleville (one year) and G.W. Long (couple of seasons).

While the record book has Horne as the winningest coach in G.W. Long’s football history, to him there were more important wins off the field during his coaching career, including his time at Daleville.

“There are a lot of things over the years that mean a lot to me that are not necessarily about wins and losses such as watching the kids turn into men and women and the things they accomplish now,” said Horne, noting former athletes who have become lawyers, doctors, state troopers, teachers and counselors among other occupations.

“I have had some good kids come through, some good football players and some good people now. They have gone on and done some good things in life.”

There were other highlights as well, including special times with his older brother, Todd, a former G.W. Long girls basketball coach and former Dale County football coach.

“Getting to coach with my brother was big as was coaching against him in some basketball games,” Horne said. “I was able to coach with both of my nephews and that was special. I have had several guys help coach with me that were players of mine and that is special too. Those are the things that I look at most.”

Since taking over after George Kennedy left G.W. Long with four games remaining in 2008, Horne had been a fixture of the Rebel program, earning a 96-44 record during 12 full seasons plus those 2008 final four contests.

Horne was the longest tenured head football coach at one school in the Wiregrass before Thursday’s retirement. Bart Snyder, who just finished his 12th season at Goshen, now holds that distinction.

“Coach has been here for 17 years, been the head coach 12 of those years and is the winningest coach we have with 96 wins, but he has meant a lot more than that to the school,” G.W. Long principal Daniel Barrentine said. “He has taken a program and made it better and throughout his leadership, he has been nothing but a class act. We will miss him

“It is like I told our kids, I don’t know if we replace Scott Horne, we have to go next man up. He has left us in a great spot. We appreciate all the years he has dedicated to the Rebels.”

Horne’s tenure at the Skipperville school featured eight years of nine or more wins, including six double-digit win seasons. His most recent team this past fall finished 9-2.

The highlight of his G.W. Long career was a three-year stretch when the Rebels went 35-3 from 2014-16 that included back-to-back 12-1 teams that reached the Class 2A state semifinals in both 2015 and 2016. Horne was chosen Dothan Eagle Coach of the Year following the 2016 success.

From the middle of the 2013 season to the 2017 season opener, the Rebels, under Horne’s guidance, won 34 straight regular season games.

Horne’s Rebel teams were also successful in the postseason, going 13-9 in the state playoffs with seven of the nine playoff teams winning at least one postseason game. The two semifinal teams both won three games before losing.

Horne credited a lot of his success at Long to lessons he learned as an assistant at Daleville under head coach Ben Harris, an Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame inductee.

“I learned a lot from him. He had a lot of influence over the way I did things,” Horne said.

Horne, who was the weight room supervisor for all of G.W. Long athletic teams, was also instrumental in developing athletes in other sports.

“We have a good weight program and what we do has helped our other programs,” Horne said. “We have won several state championships in other sports (volleyball, baseball and softball).”

A Dale County graduate, Horne was an assistant coach at G.W. Long from 2004 to the time he was elevated to the head coaching job in the middle of the 2008 season. He also served briefly as boys basketball coach at G.W. Long before devoting full time to his head football role.

Prior to coming to Skipperville, Horne was an assistant coach and head girls basketball coach at Daleville from 1998-2004. He began his coaching career as an assistant football coach at Pike County in 1997 under Tommy Wasden.

While at Daleville, he guided the Warhawk girls basketball program to two regional tournament appearances (2002, 2003) and also had a strong 2001 team.

“One of my favorite teams was my girls team when I was in Daleville,” Horne said. “I still stay in touch with those girls. That was a special bunch.”

Horne leaves G.W. Long after going 19-3 the last two years and after the school just built a new weight room a year and a half ago.

“I always said that when I left, I wanted this place to be in good shape and better than I when I got here,” Horne said. “I think whoever takes over is inheriting a good situation.”

Barrentine said the search for a new coach will begin soon, but said there was no immediate time frame for a hire to be made.