North Carolina State University Athletics
Horning to Retire After 30 Years of Service
7/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
July 22, 2011
RALEIGH, N.C. -
David Horning has given over half of his life to NC State athletics, and now he plans to spend more time with his wife Geri, his 9-year-old son Joseph and his father, who lives in Salisbury, N.C. Horning started his association with NC State as a player in 1977 and will end it as the school’s executive senior associate athletic director, when he retires on July 31.
“I’m going to take six months to reset and catch up on some things, and I want to spend more time with my dad, Glenn, who is 81,” Horning said. “I will probably go to my 35th high school reunion up in Ohio. I want to go visit my brother and take my dad up there.
“It’s those type of things that the normal person has time to do. In athletics, it’s a great world and great place to be in, but you can work a 60-hour week and another 20 on the weekend.”
Associate athletics director Chris Kingston will take over for Horning, and a new associate AD will be hired.
Horning has been a rock at NC State, working with seven different athletics directors during his 30 years.
“David Horning is a special person,” athletics director Debbie Yow said. “His devotion to State is complete and without ulterior motives. He only wants to see the athletics program become all it can be and is proud of our achievements.
“I personally have the highest possible regard for David and have counted on him every day since coming home last June. He will continue to help us as a key volunteer, and that is terrific for our program. I wish him an active and fulfilling retirement, with lots of time to spend with his family.”
Horning knew it would be difficult to tell Yow the news this spring, but it’s something he had been thinking about for the last two years.
“She would love for me to stay and has made it tough because she doesn’t want me to retire,” said Horning, who turned 53 on July 9. “She doesn’t like losing, and she doesn’t like to be told, ‘No.’”
Horning suffered a brain aneurysm on July 11, 2009, that left him in a coma for 11 days. He knows he wouldn’t have survived if not for a few lucky breaks and the assistance of key medical people. He miraculously returned to work just six weeks later, but he said that was needed to assist in his rehabilitation.
“I wasn’t ready to come back, but it was better for me to come back instead of being home by myself,” said Horning, who estimates he’s about 93 percent healthy. “I had five people watching me at work, had conversations and got my brain going. It put me four, five months ahead of schedule.”
A chain of events that fateful day helped keep Horning alive. The initial, and most important, situation was having his wife with him when he first felt symptoms.
“I woke up and passed out again, but I told her to not call anybody and that I was fine,” Horning said. “She called [NC State trainer] Charlie Rozanski, who was getting ready to leave for a lake in Virginia. He talked to her about it and advised her to call an ambulance.”
NC State team neurosurgeon Dr. Tim Garner was getting ready to go to the beach, but stayed to tend to Horning. Garner eventually saw Horning’s MRI and knew he had an AVM aneurysm. Garner quickly contacted Duke neurosurgeon Ali Zomorodi because Wake Med couldn’t handle the situation.
Zomorodi was planning on leaving the country the next day, but eventually agreed to take care of Horning.
“They shipped me from Wake Med over to Duke, and during that time, I almost passed away,” Horning said. “I had a 50 percent chance of surviving my CAT scan. I don’t think I would have made it if it wasn’t for what football and athletics taught me.”
Horning dreamed of being an athletics director one day, but after his aneurysm, he began to reassess what he wanted in life.
“I think working at NC State and reaching the 30-year mark will afford me some opportunities that a lot of people don’t have,” Horning said. “After 30 years, you can fully retire, no matter what you age is. If you don’t have 30 years, it’s usually age 60.”
The opportunity to play golf with his father, drive his 1955 Thunderbird for the first time, fix up the yard and house, and assist in his son’s pinewood derby project grew in importance for him.
“I sent my wife out with my son camping through the Cub Scouts,” Horning said. “I want to be able to go. If I had a little bit more time, I think we could have won the pinewood derby this year. I didn’t work enough on the axels. It is that kind of stuff.”
Horning wants to make up for lost time with his family and knows he is an older father.
“I have the next nine years with my son before he goes off to college,” Horning said. “I figure at the age of 14, it’s going to start happening. You know how kids are. He’ll say, ‘Relax dad, I’ll be with my buddies.’ That is why this is important. I want to have a better relationship with my son and be a better husband.”
Horning’s initial “marriage” to NC State started in the late 1970s when he was recruited to play football by former coach Lou Holtz.
Horning was a standout outside linebacker for the Wolfpack and a proud member of the 1979 ACC title squad. The Kent, Ohio, native is proud of winning NC State’s last conference title, but still ponders about what could have been that season (the Pack went 7-4 overall and 5-1 in the ACC),.
“We got a ring, but people don’t realize in 1979 that we got beat by Penn State by one point with one second left on the clock, 7-6,” Horning said. “We should have won that game. We played Auburn and West Virginia out of conference, and we played East Carolina.
“We beat East Carolina, but lost to South Carolina and [future Heisman Trophy winning running back] George Rogers, and we lost to Auburn with running backs William Andrews, Joe Cribbs and James Brooks. That could have been a great year.”
Horning graduated in 1981, became a graduate assistant for the strength and conditioning program in 1983, and was named the director of the program the next year, a role he held for the next five years. He gradually worked his way into his current position.
“My career path would be hard to repeat,” Horning said. “There’s been such a great growth in college athletics. I don’t think the industry can continue to grow like it has the last 30 years.”
Maneuvering through different bosses is never easy, and Horning has a simple philosophy that helped him survive the various regime changes.
“Another part of my personality is that I’m a real tough guy,” Horning said. “I was a tough player. My personality wasn’t so strong, though, that I couldn’t change to my boss. You get on board, adjust and adapt, and you overcome to make it better.
“My personality is that you are submissive to your boss.”
Horning has watched NC State athletics grow and evolve right before his eyes, and has played an intimate role in several of the recent facility projects.
“I’ve seen a lot of improvements and cherished that,” Horning said. “I’ve had a little bit to do with it and had a little bit of influence. I’ll leave a lasting impression here.”
The RBC Center was arguably the most complex project Horning worked on.
“It was a multi-prime bid, which means every component reported to a different entity,” Horning said. “You had to have facilitative meetings and you had to be on the same page and illuminate issues. That was a challenging thing for me, but I learned a lot.”
Horning is also proud of the improvements made to Carter-Finley Stadium.
“I think we have the best football stadium in the conference,” Horning said. “We have 58,000 seats, and that place is a tough place to be on a Thursday night. Our fans get down there, we lock the gates and we play. There is also great parking.”
Horning looks forward to bringing his family to NC State football and basketball games and becoming a spectator.
“I’ll still keep the relationships and will still be a Wolfpacker for life,” Horning said. “It’s been a great experience, and I’ve been treated very well here.”
By Jacey Zembal – reprinted from THE WOLFPACKER
