GREENSBORO, NC — The Guilford College athletics department announced the hiring of Jeff Horton as the head coach of the women's rugby program. Horton began his role on Nov. 1.

Horton finds his way to Guilford after spending the 2017-18 season at Youngstown State University where he aided in the launch and development of the first State-funded university to offer rugby-specific scholarships to women.

"I'm excited to welcome Jeff Horton Guilford as our Head Coach for Women's Rugby. He has extensive collegiate experience coaching women and is highly respected in the rugby community," said Director of Athletics Bill Foti. "He will hit the ground running on recruiting as we restart our Women's Rugby program with the hopes of returning to full competition during the 2022-23 academic year." 

Horton began his coaching career at Kent State in 2009 where he helped the program to make the move from the USA Rugby Division II to Division I. During his eight years with the Golden Flashes, they claimed four conference titles while making the national round of 16 three times and the quarterfinals once.

The Hudson, Ohio native has been involved with the USA Women's Rugby National team in the capacity of Assistant Manager. During this team, Horton was involved with the 2016 Super Series in Salt Lake City, Utah and the 2017 National All-Star Competition in Tigertown, Fla. 

He served as the head coach of the U24 Ohio Rugby Selects, which won the 2016 Midwest Rugby Football Union LAU Championships. He also served as the assistant coach of the U24 Midwest Thunderbirds.

Horton's playing career began in 2001 when he was a freshman at Hudson High School.