By Mick McGrane, GoAztecs.com Senior Writer
(@MickOnTheMesa)
About six times a year, Jeff Horton dusts it off, falling back on that twang that comes from being raised in Arlington, Texas.
He is far from unknown in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, having recruited the area for the better part of 30 years, darting between high schools, shaking hands with coaches, players and parents, continually scanning a familiar horizon in an attempt to shore up positions of need.
And his recruiting trips have been far from futile. Prior to Horton's hiring as San Diego State's running backs coach in 2011, the team's roster the previous season consisted of two Texas natives, quarterback Adam Dingwell and linebacker Anthony Miller. Eight seasons later, that number has swelled to 10, an increase that's coincided with the 2015 additions of wide receivers coach Hunkie Cooper (Palestine, Texas) and quarterbacks coach Blane Morgan (Dallas).
Horton calls it the "three-headed monster." And the monster is on the move.
With SDSU's school-record ninth straight postseason game taking place next week at the Frisco Bowl in Frisco, Texas, rest assured that Horton, Cooper and Morgan know full well that jumping on the Dallas North Tollway South will put them in the metroplex in less than an hour.
"They all know about San Diego State," said Horton, who also serves as the Aztecs' associate head coach and offensive coordinator. "I mean, for one, we're on TV all the time there, and they know that we've had success as a program. The kids see that, and the high school coaches know it, too. Obviously, over the years, we've had a lot of (Texas) kids come through our program, and word trickles down through the high school ranks.
High schools like Kennedale High in Kennedale, where junior running back Juwan Washington rolled up more than 5,000 yards rushing while scoring 75 touchdowns. High schools like Carroll High in Southlake, where junior quarterback Ryan Agnew threw for nearly 7,000 yards and 60 TDs. High schools like Plano East in Plano, the alma mater of sophomore wide receiver Tim Wilson, Jr., who's tied for the team lead with three touchdown catches and is averaging 19.1 yards per reception.
"I think we all like it here," said junior defensive end Myles Cheatum, a product of Cedar Park High in Cedar Park, Texas. "When you get here, it's a collective bond that you bring with you, repping that Texas pride. You want to represent where you're from.
"When you're playing against Texas guys, it comes down to where you're from and where they're from. You could be 10-15 minutes apart from another school, but you want to have that edge over them. You see them out in the grocery store or other places, you have a little extra swagger if you beat them."
And a bit more to brag about when you come home for the holidays having taken up residence 15 minutes from the Pacific Ocean.
"My friends always say that I'm living the dream, getting to live in San Diego and play college football, and I don't think they're wrong," Cheatum said. "There's not a better place to come to that I can think of to play football than San Diego, California.
"(But) I don't try to sell anybody on anything. I try to advise them of my experiences here. I always tell them that wherever you go, nobody can play there except for you. At the end of the day, it has to be their decision."
Agnew, who assumed the team's starting quarterback duties when senior Christian Chapman was injured in Week 2, became the first quarterback from a non-Power 5 school to beat a nationally-ranked Power 5 team in his starting debut, when the Aztecs knocked off No. 23 Arizona State in Week 3.
"I wasn't really buddies with anyone on the roster, but I knew of a lot of guys," Agnew said of his decision to attend SDSU. "Sergio (former defensive tackle Phillips) was from DeSoto; I played (against) him. (Former defensive back) Kameron Kelly was from Wylie (High), so I definitely knew guys from Texas. And when I came out here, seeing all of them, it kind of felt like I could be at home here, too.
"Coach Long, Coach (Jeff) Horton, Coach (Blane) Morgan, the winning tradition that's being started here. Who wouldn't want to come live in San Diego, California, for a few years? All those things drew me right towards San Diego State. And people in my hometown are very aware (of SDSU). They like to check in, keep up. Family, friends, kids who go to other schools, they like to keep up and get texts after games on Saturday and Sunday."
And likely ignite debate as to the better brand of football: Texas or California. Horton, who also recruits Nevada for the Aztecs after spending 18 years in the state — including a combined six as the head coach at Nevada and UNLV — believes one of the biggest differences in Texas is that nearly all high school coaches are also on-site faculty.
"At some places in California, you're lucky if there are even one or two coaches that are on the faculty," he said. "At some schools in Texas, you might have 20. But there are pros and cons to that, too. The pros are that a (Texas) kid may be developed more, but for a kid in California, once he gets into a year-round system in college, the ceiling for him may be higher.
"Another big difference is just the commitment (football) gets from the Texas education system. In Texas, they have a one-hour and 20-minute athletic period every day. And there's no transferring like they do in California. Whatever area you live in, that's where you're going to high school. In junior high, you run the offense and defense of the high school you're going to. After running it in seventh, eighth and ninth grade, by the time you get to high school, the coaches just keep building on it. The terminology that you learn in junior high is the same terminology they teach in the high school you're going to."
It's the kind of transition that led to redshirt freshman linebacker Caden McDonald becoming an all-state selection at Northwest High in Haslet, Texas, where he totaled a school-record 290 career total tackles, and redshirt freshman running back Kaegun Williams amassing more than 2,000 yards and scoring 26 touchdowns in three seasons at Cedar Hill High in Cedar Hill.
It's a transition from prairies, grasslands, rugged hills and rolling plains to a seaside city, a transition SDSU is hopeful of paying future dividends. All 10 of the Texas players on the roster are underclassmen.
"Every place I've been I've recruited Texas," Horton said. "Being from there and recruiting there for the past 30 years, you hope you develop some great relationships. It's like any business, the more people you know and the more opportunities you get, the better chance of success you have. And I think the kids (from Texas) who come to visit carry it back home with them.
"Hey, when you look at the (high school) stadiums down there and how big some of them are, they'll easily get 50,000 people for the state championships at (AT&T Stadium in Arlington) this weekend. In Texas, that's what they do. In California, they go to the beach. And there's nothing wrong with that, either."
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