KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Todd Hoffner had to watch from afar as Minnesota State had the best season in school history, a remarkable run by his players under a different coach to the national semifinals.
That was two years ago, his career in shambles and his future uncertain.
Now, after a full exoneration of child-pornography charges, Hoffner is back on the Mavericks’ sideline, leading the program through a new best season. Minnesota State (14-0) plays Colorado State-Pueblo (13-1) on Saturday at Sporting Park for its first NCAA Division II championship.
“You have to move forward,” Hoffner said this week, reflecting on his long, difficult and often embarrassing journey. “You try to learn, you try to be better daily as a coach, and that’s very important to have that kind of mind-set. But there’s nobody having more fun than I am. When you’re away from the game, you appreciate it that much more.”
Not just away from the game, though.
While the child-abuse scandal at Penn State was unfolding in August 2012, Hoffner was ordered off the practice field only eight practices into preseason camp when a technician repairing his university-issued cellphone found family videos of his naked children. A county judge dismissed the case, but school officials ultimately decided to fire Hoffner the following spring.
He took a job in North Dakota, but the faculty union at Minnesota State filed a grievance on his behalf, and an arbitrator ruled for an immediate reinstatement.
As if his path to reach that point had not been bumpy enough, Hoffner returned to find Minnesota State players in revolt. But they soon came together.
“During this whole time, all we heard was what we heard through the news,” defensive end Josh Gordon said. “The next day we had a meeting with Hoffner, we expressed our feelings, and we put that in the past and decided we would just play.”
